Family
by I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I
Summary: Because it is there, in good times and bad times, always to give a hand or hug. A scolding if you misbehaved or a punch to bring you back to reality if needed be. Yet, in this case, Natsu will need for every single member of his family to gather, all of them to help one person that always looked after them and now is nowhere to be found. Dragneel family, reunite!
1. Erza, Elis and Eris

**Disclaimer: Yo! Terevi no maino mina and whatever the hell that follows. I don't own this stuff. With that I mean, I don't own Fairy Tail. It's Mashima's, weee~. Sorry about that.**

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><p><strong>Family.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fanfiction story.)_

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><p><em>Magnolia City…<em>

_By morning…_

"I say we look for your brother first."

"Uh… he's busy… remember?"

"…cannot we try?"

"He'll get mad, like last time."

"But I don't want to-"

"Dad…"

"-to go after your mom and sisters without backup!" A pink-haired man in his mid-forties yelled as he walked side by side with a girl no older than sixteen, attracting the attention of some passer-byers and merchants on that busy street. "It's suicide, dammit!"

The small town of Magnolia grew in population over the years, getting to be one of the major metropolis of the Kingdom of Fiore, rivaling only with Crocus, the capital of the kingdom. Bustling with people from different places of the country, with more guilds than before, and a large quantity of promising wizards, the small town didn't look like its former self. Though, the man disagreed. He could still feel that nostalgic air in the streets that still made the place fitting to be called his home.

There were so many memories there.

Happy and sad, of course.

But he still loved that place, no matter what.

A bright sun to illuminate the path, a few clouds to make it bearable, the fresh morning breeze of Spring and lastly, a nice person at his side to walk on that beautiful day given by whatever deity in the skies. Definitely, nothing was missing. Nothing at all.

Or so the man wanted to think, the girl was reminding him at every turn that they had pressing matters to attend to.

"I know, dad, but they're needed for this, remember?" The girl, several inches shorter than the man, was of scarlet hair. She was getting frustrated with the man's constant complaints and turnabouts at this topic they were discussing.

Long scarlet hair that got to her knees, tied in a high-ponytail, brown eyes and a mildly stoic expression. Wearing a nice red dress given to her by the man next to her, she had some pieces of armor to keep the vital points protected, namely her belly, shoulders, forearm and shins. A pair of gloves too, specifically worn to help her handle the sword strapped to her back. And brown shoes with a rose pantyhose going all the way until it disappeared under her dress's skirt.

'_C'mon, dad…'_ She was trying to reason with the man, given as his brain didn't want to face the obvious answer. "We cannot go after mom without those two."

"We wouldn't need any of them if it weren't because of your mom's emotional outbursts." The man grumbled a few incoherences and folded his arms over his chest, trying to think of a way to convince the young girl. _'I swear she's getting more and more emotional with each year.'_

He had pink hair, spiky and slightly long, onyx eyes and a terrified expression. A black trench coat with golden trimmings over a pair of white trousers was the only thing covering his naked torso, filled with scars from battles in days of yore. A scaly scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, and aside that, a black wristband on his left arm and a pair of sandals.

He continued to look at the young girl with his mind processing thoughts at a thousand miles per hour but he still couldn't find something to say to her. There was something in her eyes that told him, to his soul, that whatever thing he tried to conjure, it would be swatted away and be ignored. Taken as the excuse that it is.

'_Stubborn girl… just like her mom.'_ He eventually sighed and surrendered, not finding a valid excuse for the youngster. "Alright… we'll go for those two before looking for your brother."

"Yay!" The girl brightened up at the answer, jumping to reach her father's head and pat the top of it once. "Finally using your brain!"

"Hey… don't push it." The man grumbled a few incoherences more and delivered a side-glare to the girl, showing to be miffed about that little comment and pat. It wasn't that he didn't like it, per see, he didn't want to be reminded of his childishness by his own kids. He sighed again and pushed forward, towards the edge of the city. "C'mon, we gotta reach Hargeon before sunset or else-"

"Uh, but we can take the train for that, right~?" The girl sang with a small smile, pointing to the large train station a few blocks away. "We can get to Hargeon in an hour if we take the-"

"Nope! No way! We walk or forget about looking for your sisters first!" The man cried out like a child who didn't want to go to school. He sat with his legs crossed on the floor and faced the opposite direction. His stomach was growling at the mere mention or thought of a train. "Goddammit! You know I hate trains!"

'_It was just a little teasing.'_ The girl blinked a couple of times and sighed, shaking her head at the man's antics. She walked up to his back and tapped his shoulder twice, now pointing to the exit of the city when the man looked at her. "Okay, let's go walking then."

_'Ha-hah~! You fell for my act!'_ The man looked at her as if she was trying to pull a prank on him or something. "Really?"

"Yes, really." She sighed again and to further prove her good will to the pink-haired man, she started walking towards the edge of town, turning to give a reproachful look to her father when she noticed he wasn't following her. "Hey! C'mon, I'm not walking that long path alone!"

The pink-haired man stared at his daughter for a second, marveling at how much she grew over the last couple of years.

Oh, it seemed as if it had been yesterday when she was born and muttering _'dada'_ whenever he was around.

Just remembering her baby voice saying that was enough to bring the strong wizard to tears.

But now, those joyful days were gone.

Farewell to his baby girl, his little pride and fountain of love, and hello to this miniature version of his wife.

He really wanted to cry now.

Why the need for all of them to be like his wife?

This was some sick joke of the universe that wanted to see him squirm and cry.

Now his little girl was turning to be like the rest of the females in the family.

As if his other two girls weren't enough.

As if his wife herself wasn't enough.

'_I miss the old days, dammit.'_ Wiping the tear from his eye, the pink-haired man, wizard of Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel, stood up, dusted off his clothes and ran after his daughter. "Hey! Wait up!"

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><p><em>Hargeon Port…<em>

_That afternoon…_

Hargeon, another town that grew out from its former shell and was now as bustling as any other city of its caliber. The port received goods from all the countries around Fiore and had also a large number of immigrants from the same, making it the most diverse port city of the Kingdom.

A super power in commerce, the Port City of Hargeon also attracted the attention of many mages, powerful and not so powerful ones, that wanted to get a slice of the large amount of jobs and missions that came, not just from the locals, but from the travelers of distant lands. The Port City was not only an opportunity for those looking for wealth, but also for those wanting to see more of the world, beyond the borders of the peninsula.

Now, in between those guilds, there was one located near the outskirts of the city.

And in the training grounds of that guild…

"Alright, at the count of three."

"I accept, but Happy will be the referee this time."

The blue cat raised a pawn to show his approval, sitting over an old wooden barrel and raising his slightly gruff voice to be above the screams from the spectators of the local guild that were cheering for the contestants. "Aye sir!"

"Okay, deal… now, ready?"

"Ready!"

"1…!"

"2…!"

"3!"

"Rock, paper, scissors and who loses trains with brother!"

A pair of hands were swung forward to the center of the ring and the place went quiet.

"…"

"…"

"Hihihihihi~!" Happy snickered quietly but gleefully at the last result from the hour-long match of _'Rock, Paper, Scissors'_, using his aged paws to cover his growing smirk. The people witnessing the match did the same, especially when noticing the grimaces on the two beauties' faces that were at the center of the ring. "Another draw~!"

"…impossible." The beauty to the left murmured, holding her hand with two fingers extended and the rest on her palm.

"…no way." And the beauty to the right also murmured her words of disbelief, holding her hand in the same fashion.

"Alright, people, get away." The blue cat yelled to the public, knowing well what was about to happen. He still saved the money from the bets in his little green bag though, and since it was a draw, he was going to keep all of it. Another low snicker from him told everyone what they already knew. He was going to eat first class fish tonight. "It's about to get dangerous now!"

"You cheater!"

"Damn you, sister!"

He has been doing this for a year now; after the twins matured and Natsu gave his approval, both decided to move out from home and to Hargeon were a friend of them was starting a new guild and needed strong wizards to give the place a healthful kick start. Where was him in all of this? Well, but of course Natsu wouldn't give his approval so willingly –they were his little girls, after all, maturing or not– so he sent Happy with them to keep them in check.

"I'm burning you to a crisp!"

"Hahaha! I'd like to see you try!"

And since he was like an uncle to them, or another sibling, they didn't object. In fact, if Natsu were to see this situation now, he knew the pink-haired man would scream at him for letting the girls get out of control under his supervision. A shiver ran down his spine. If Natsu were to yell at him for that, he didn't want to imagine what the mother of these girls would do.

"Happy! What the hell is going on!?"

"Oh damn! Save me, Charle!" The blue cat cried in fear when he heard the voice of his foster-father behind him. Flying all the way to hide behind some trees around the clearing…

…or so he thought.

"Hey, stop squirming." Natsu held him tight by the tail and kept him from running away. When the cat stopped his futile attempts to escape, he narrowed his eyes at the blue ball of fur and pointed towards the two girls wrestling in the middle of the area. "And explain what's the meaning of this."

"U-uh…" Happy looked in the direction that the finger was pointing and saw the two red-haired beauties wrestling in the middle of the clearing. No crowd around them now, only another red-head was with them, the little girl cheering both on to see who would be victorious in this sisterly match.

"Go go, sister!"

Oh, that's so cute it hurts.

"Ow! Hey! No kneeing!"

"Then stop pulling at my hair!"

Yep, it hurts.

The cat looked back to his foster-father and scratched the back of his head. "Uh… cat-fight?"

A vein appeared on Natsu's forehead and a forced smile made its way to his face. "Oh, really? I didn't notice that."

Fire appeared from nowhere.

"Save meeeeeeeee~!" And with a swift movement of his arm, Natsu sent Happy flying to the bushes, throwing a small fireball to emphasize how angry he was at this finding. Really, he sends the cat to keep the girls under control and he finds them all doing whatever they want without his knowing.

'_If she were here, she'd be scolding them and me as well.'_ A sigh escaped and his façade turned harsh. _'But since she's not here… that's up to me.'_

A couple of loud footsteps to make his presence notorious and he stared down at the two wrestling beauties on the grass, seeing by the corner of his eye how the youngest one retreated at the obvious dangerous situation that was soon to happen.

"_Eris… Elis…_" Calling their names out loud with a tone as cold as the magic of his rival certainly did the trick in stopping them, for now both girls were frozen in place with their head slowly turning to see him, wide and frightened eyes staring helplessly at him from the ground. He didn't let the sight deter him though, it made his blood boil a little hotter. His eyes narrowed even more and with a calculated kneeling from his part to have their faces closer, he murmured. "What did I say about fighting?"

"E-eh!? H-hmm… u-uh…" The one on top, pulling at her sister's hair and keeping one arm pressed against the grass, flinched a little and tried to gather the words for an answer.

Meanwhile, the one against the grass already knew the answer, yet, the sight of her enraged father was making her falter in voicing out her thoughts. "H-hmmm…"

"It was a ritoric…" Natsu stopped and blinked, making his own daughters blink as well.

'_Well… there goes the intimidating act…'_ The youngest daughter thought at one side of the scene, carrying a burnt Happy on her arms and a small sweatdrop behind her head.

He shook his head and tried again, keeping his cold façade in place. "It was a rhetorical question."

"Oh…" The twins voiced lowly, suddenly not knowing what to do. Not because of the fear, that is, but because of the sudden and unexpected fail their father had when trying to scold them. Really, that was lame.

"T-that was lame… even for you… Natsu…" Happy moaned from his position, still seeing fire before his swirling eyes.

"…shut up." Standing up with a small blush dusting his cheeks, the pink-haired man coughed on his fist and glared at the two girls from above, reminding them that, failure or not, his words were still to be listened to. Oh dear, he needed to remember and thank his wife for those lessons in how to scold people. Well, not that they were actual lessons, he just followed her for a couple of days while she was in a scolding streak and took notes. "You two, let go of each other and stand up."

"Aye, dad…" The one on top murmured in a bored fashion, sighing to make her point clear that she didn't want her fun to be stopped. Now their father was here, woo-hoo, no more fighting or random brawls with her sister and guildmates.

Of scarlet hair like the other two girls, she had it as long as them, but more wild and spiky at some parts, tied in a lose ponytail that still wasn't enough to leave her hair controlled. It combined well with her more wild behavior and magic. Then her clothing was also to punctuate this, seeing as from the three girls in that clearing, her clothing was more casual and daring –if her father's opinion were to matter-.

An unbuttoned white coat over a black vest were the garments the upper part of her body wore, while a pair of black leather jeans kept the skin of her legs hidden. There was an opening on the left leg's thigh that showed a healthy amount and several belts strapped around her waist. For footing, a pair of high-heeled boots. And a pair of black, fingerless gloves on her hands.

"I'm sorry, father, I didn't know you were here." As for the one against the ground, she spoke with respect to the man in that clearing, failure or not. From the two, she was the most cordial one, even though she was prone to hearing on her twin sister's teasing and end up fighting with her like just now.

Same color of hair and length, the difference was in how it was displayed. As her attitude, her hair was kept in top-notch conditions, running all the way down, freely and with nothing holding it back, except for two braided bangs at the sides of her head that she knotted at the back to give her some style and not a dull look.

To the attire she had, the man knew the mother of this girl was from where she got the idea for this. A black and white dress with sides and back colored red, the back going all the way to her knees but leaving the front open yet covered by a white skirt that didn't go beyond the mid of her thighs. A black belt was keeping it all close to her waist. Then, the most obvious influence from the mother in the girl's attire, the armor parts. She had metal gauntlets, high-heeled boots and shoulder pads. All of them with wing motifs at the ends, to further emphasize his point.

Both had brown eyes, wide and lively, yet the pink-haired man knew that the eyes of the first girl had something of a spark in them. A fiery flame hidden beneath that made him proud to his core.

"Sigh… don't sweat it… I guess part of me was expecting this." Natsu mumbled after his short sigh, giving the girls a disappointed look that didn't go unnoticed. "You two can't keep away from each other's throats not even for two full minutes."

"Sorry, father…" Elis, the most respectful one, apologized in a heartbeat, closing her hands into fists at her failure. She wanted someone to hit her because of this, to punish her for what she had done wrong. Surely, her mother would try to do so, only to be stopped by her father, but then…

"Aw, c'mon, you know you like it when we fight!" Meanwhile, Eris, the rebellious one, grinned widely and jumped to her father's side, swinging and resting an arm over his shoulders while the other one raised her hand to be at eye level. A spark flickered over her gloved palm and before the man could say anything, a flame was shown to him. "You're probably hungry from the long trip, so, whatcha say? Want a snack?"

"Uh…" The pink-haired man struggled with himself at this proposal, sweating bullets at the small yet delicious fire presented to him. No, he needed to be strong! He needed to be a good father and show his girls some discipline! He couldn't fall to the temptation of this bright, delicious and very edible fire before his eyes! _'I-If it's only a bite it won't hurt, right?'_

'_Yes~! Victory~!'_ Eris's smirk widened when her father leaned his head closer to the flame, opening his mouth shyly and slowly to eat the very tempting offer she had. _'Just a little more~ C'mon~.'_

"Stop corrupting father, Eris! He's not like you!" But the yell of the other twin made both wizards snap to attention; the first one to heave a sigh of relief at being saved from something that would've spoiled his kids while the other was burning in rage at her plans being foiled. Elis stood closer to the two and shot a threatening glare to her twin, warning her not to try that again. "Father is better than you, accept it for once! He won't fall to such petty tricks!"

'_I'm pretty sure I was about to eat that fire though…'_ Natsu thought since he didn't want to voice out his obvious failure.

"Tch! Stop talking so highly of dad! And stop calling him father!" Eris yelled back, much to the pink-hair's discomfort. Thanks to his strengthened hearing, that loud scream just now almost left him deaf in his right ear. The rebellious girl let go of her father and marched up to be face-to-face with her twin, grinning mischievously at her while meeting her glare head-on. "You're just jealous because dad loves me more!"

"W-what?" Elis's eyes widened, catching through the corner of her eyes if her father was listening to them now.

'_And what will you say to that? I wonder…'_ Much to her disgrace, he was, even if partially, and staring at the two, mainly at her, with some expectation in his eyes.

"L-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-lies and slander! T-t-t-t-that's not true!" Her face started to burn and not because of some fire. This was also accompanied by some stuttering too, making it all the cuter in the older man's eyes. His little girl still had some feelings for him! Oh, the end of world is not so close after all! "Y-y-you know I love father, yes! B-but with the respect he deserves!"

He sweatdropped at the girl's comeback. _'Heart-warming, my little girl… but you made me feel a century older…'_

"Oh~? Are you sure you're not jealous?" Backpedaling to be next to Natsu again, Eris summoned the flame back on her hand and swung her free arm across her father's shoulders again, leaning possessively against his right side. "I mean, I have dad's magic and you don't, and you know how much he loves to eat my fire~."

'_Okay… it made sense but it sounded wrong too… really, really wrong.'_ The grown-up thought with sweat falling from every single pour of his body. Really, one thing is for his girls to love him like any girl should love her father, but this was another level. A very disturbing level.

"T-that may be true…" Elis muttered under breath, shaking a little and lowering her face to look at the ground. She clenched her fists at her sides and made up her mind, remembering something that was sore for her sister as well. This was something that needed to be fought evenly, no matter the consequences! She raised her head and glared at her sister, slightly throwing her off-balance, and called a massive claymore to her hand. This, I note, surprised everyone. "But I resemble mother more than you! Ergo, father loves me as much as he loves mother or even more!"

'…_somehow, that made more sense, even if it's as disturbing as the other fact.'_ Natsu stared bug-eyed at the girl and the massive weapon she held and later went on to see what the other one would respond to this proclamation. He knew that this made the matter all the more complicated. _'And now, let's wait for the answer of contestant number two!'_

Eris stood dumbfounded for a few minutes, mulling over the facts thrown at her and only reacted when she noticed her father's expecting eyes on her. He had a raised eyebrow, showing his interest in what she would answer to her sister's words.

"B-b-b-b-bullshit! Y-y-you know that's bullshit!" Another girl with a burning face and Natsu was left alone, finally. He sighed after the rebellious girl let go of him and watched with a small smile how the twins started a bickering over who was more loved by him and whatnot.

'_You both are like your mother…'_ He thought, since he knew that voicing his internal words would only amplify the argument even more, and moved towards the little one of the group. She was left aside, tending to the burned blue cat and out of the argument of the older sisters, which was good in Natsu's opinion. He approached her, a small smile on his face as he saw her sitting on the ground with a smile as she tended to her foster-uncle. _'And even though you both are right, this little one here is the winner.'_

"Is that true?" The little girl asked to the blue ball of fur on her legs, a bit curious over what she was hearing. Her smile never faltering.

"A-aye… Natsu used to be rowdier than he is now." Happy told to the giggling little girl, using his paws to express how the pink-haired man used to be. Said man chuckled quietly at the memories of his best friend. "He would go swuuush! Paaaf! Booom! In every job we went to or whenever we fought someone strong…"

"But dad still does that when he's on a job." The little girl thought for a second, remembering whenever her father returned home after a job was completed, only to be scolded by her mother for all the destruction he caused. "Mom's always scolding him because of property damage and other things."

"Oh! But he used to do lots more! It usually involved entire cities burning!" The cat explained further, grinning in amusement when the pink-haired man in question appeared on his line of sight with a small smile on his face. "I'm pretty sure he got whipped!"

Natsu flinched, the smile he was carrying vanishing from his face. _'W-why, you little-!'_

The little girl quirked an eyebrow at the word. "Whipped?"

And Happy was sent flying towards the end of the world when the pink-haired man grabbed his head and threw him as a living fireball towards the horizon. "YOU'RE MEAN, NATSUUUUUUUUUU~!"

Sweatdropping at the sight of the burning, flying cat, the little girl turned slowly to look at her father and found him with his gaze shadowed, looking towards nothing in particular before spinning on his feet and heading to the city's downtown. "D-dad…?"

"Call your sisters and follow me, Erza." Natsu ordered without a hint of joke in his voice, letting his trench coat billow with the soft breeze of the afternoon. "We still have to find your brother."

'_I guess he got moody over what Uncle Happy said…'_ Erza, named so because of her mother, nodded slowly and stood up, dusting off the hems of her dress as she watched her father disappear down the road. She narrowed her eyes in thought, a bit of pain in her chest at the lonely image. _'He really misses you, mom.'_

"O-ouch! Elis! Time-out! Time-out! Dad's leaving!"

"W-what!? W-where-!? Wait for me, father!"

"Wait for US! I'm going too!"

"No! You won't taint father with your presence!"

"Stop saying I'll taint him, dammit! I'm not a disease!"

"You should be!"

"I heard that, bitch!"

Little Erza sighed as she followed after the path of destruction of her sisters, looking now at the setting sun.

There was now one person more to be found before heading to wherever her mother was.

And that person was at the capital, Crocus.

'_Lotus-nii…'_

**To be continued.**

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><p><strong>AN: Derp, I forgot that an Author's Notes goes here. Sorry, mid-terms are frying my brain. Quite literally with the blazing heat that's going on around these parts. *coughs* Anywho... this story is something that came to me after fantasizing a little about those Family/Future Fics and possibilities, you know, something aside the usual "boy gets the girl" or the opposite. This is more to see how things would be in the future, after "boy gets the girl" or the opposite and how their lives are after some years pass. Yep, pretty interesting and funny. Considering some characters seem to never change.**

**Would you care to accompany me in the three chapters that will make this story? *uses sad-puppy eyes to charm you into saying 'yes'***

**Saludos.**


	2. Lotus and Natsu

**Disclaimer: Yo! Terevi no maino mina and whatever the hell that follows. I don't own this stuff. With that I mean, I don't own Fairy Tail. It's Mashima's, weee~. Sorry about that.**

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><p><strong>Family.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fanfiction story.)_

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><p><em>Major Metropolis of Crocus…<em>

_2 days later…_

Once the proud capital of the Kingdom, Crocus grew even more with the passing of the years. Whereas Magnolia and Hargeon had changes noticeable by everyone, Crocus was another story. The city itself remained the same, save for the construction of some taller buildings by the old parts of the city and the expansion towards the mountain borders.

Aside that, the impressive wall surrounding the old part of the city was another addition, built to withstand sieges and any other kinds of threats. With patrols guarding the top of the walls and gates the seven days of the week and twenty-four hours of the day, no one so far dared to intrude or attack the now majestic city.

Not only because of the great wall but because of the troops garrisoned in Crocus.

Which were trained constantly to be prepared for anything, especially after the Dragon's Attack decades ago.

And the training of these men and women was in charge of the wizards around Fiore that wanted to take that job.

"'Kay, one more time, and now I want you to try your very best to take me down."

"Yes, Captain!"

In the barracks belonging to the city's garrison, more specifically, in the training grounds behind the fortified building, a group of thirty guardsmen stood in a circle formation with their weapons at the ready. All of them a bit worn out from the rough training session at the hands of their Captain but they were still ready to continue and give their all for the sake of bettering themselves.

'_They'll probably attack in waves of five to try and make openings.'_ The young man in the middle of the deathly circle thought with a small frown growing on his face, looking in every direction possible through the corner of his eyes. He held two swords in his hands and his stance was ready to either block or deflect the future attacks._ 'It's all a matter of not losing my footing and keep on with their movements and strategy… I cannot fall to distractions.'_

He slid one foot to the side to enhance his stance even more and got ready to yell the start of the training.

When suddenly…

"Hah! I told you he'd be training!"

"You said he'd be busy, not training!"

"It's the same goddamned thing!"

"It's not!"

"It is!"

He was thrown off-balance, along with his men, when a group of four people entered the training ground with loud yells being delivered left and right. Their voices were really loud, he noted, and very familiar too. This prompted him to sweatdrop at the bad timing of these people. _'It could've been any other time of the day… but you just had to appear now, didn't you?'_

"Shhhh, can't you see he's in the middle of something?" Natsu chided to the group of girls following him, casting an irritated glare to each and every one of them. They had been travelling for the past two days to get to the Capital and since they left Hargeon, the twins never stopped fighting over the most inane of things. Hell, the presence of the little one and Happy didn't help matters either. Both were involved somehow and that damned blue cat liked to add more fuel to the fire whenever the fights broke out. "You're probably bothering him with all the yelling."

Elis looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry, father…"

And Eris scoffed at the scolding. "It wasn't my fault."

'_I need to go on a job or something after this…'_ Sighing at their obvious answers and knowing that before he realized the fights would start again, the pink-haired shook his head and returned his attention to the front, taking note of the young man that was surrounded by the city's guardsmen. "Go on, don't mind us."

"A-aye…" _'You can't act so casually after that.'_ The young man thought dryly at hearing the older guy's words, returning his attention to the fight about to start in his end while ignoring the pointed looks from the new set of spectators. He closed his eyes and did his best to ignore them, focusing on what he had to do. _'C'mon… they're not here… go back to fifteen minutes ago… and everything will be alright.'_

Crimson hair styled backwards with spiked ends, with one bang going to the front and covering one side of his face, and buzzed sides of black hair that he dyed himself. The young man was almost identical to the older Dragneel that stood by the sidelines with the females, yet, his overall looks gave a hint of maturity whereas his father's gave away how carefree he was. His onyx eyes, with a slight red tint in them, and facial expressions were sharper, his entire posture spoke of discipline, but still not enough to compare him to his mother.

As for the attire; a black, sleeveless shirt to cover his torso, black fingerless gloves that went all the way to his elbows, white trousers that reached his ankles, black shoes and a red belt to keep his trousers in place. He had a small flame-shaped pendant hanging from a necklace around his neck and both ears pierced with prism-shaped earrings hanging from them. From all the kids Natsu had, this one was the one that wore less clothes, being more casual about his looks, but still well-dressed in anyone's opinion. Of course, he also looked like a punk or bandit, but that's something rarely heard.

Back to the situation…

"Start!"

It wasn't even five minutes after the order was given that the older of the Dragneel kids stood impassive in the middle of his thirty opponents, not having moved more than ten steps –according to Natsu who oversaw the training- and without a single attack or defense move wasted. The young man had a ground-breaking talent for fighting, having a knack for reading his enemies' movements with just a mere glimpse to the opponent's muscles, and a scary skill to swing his blades at the right place and time.

The girls stood speechless at the sword-play, wondering if they would ever be capable of reaching the power and talent their only brother had by the short age of twenty-one. With the twins being eighteen and the little one having sixteen, the chances were 50-50, but very unlikely in their minds. As they knew, their brother had talent, whereas they would have to train a lot to at least scratch that height.

A couple of footsteps broke the silence and the older man moved towards his son.

"Looks like you still have it, huh?" Natsu commented once the fight was over and the guards laid sprawled around his son in the middle of the training ground, walking with careful steps to stand next to the crimson-haired wizard that was paying attention to the soft complains of the guards with a cheerful smile on his face. "Why don't you take that strength of yours to a guild and see what happens?"

"Again with that?" The smile left the youngster's face and he turned to glare at his father, suddenly doing a one-eighty in his mood at the mention of joining a guild. He called off his blades and rested his fists at the sides of his waist, narrowing his exotic colored eyes at the old wizard. "I told you already, I'd rather be a wanderer like Jellal and Cobra than join a guild…"

"Tch! C'mon, Lotus… you know you won't get the fight you want by waiting in this place or following those two." The pink-haired man fumed at the sudden argument between them, having the starts of a headache at just remembering the numerous times they discussed this. "You need to get out of this city and see the world for yourself, like your mother and I when we were your age."

"Again, then I'd rather join Jellal and his guild than a regular one." Lotus, whose name came from his father's top spells, hissed his answer and walked pass his father, heading to the door that led to the dorms while giving a semy-apathetic wave of greeting to his sisters. They replied to it with conflicted waves of their own. "I'll take a nap and be back in two hours… if there's something _else_ you want to talk about, I'll be all ears."

The figure walked away from the group until it reached a door to the insides of the huge construction, opening it and closing it sharply before disappearing from view.

This left the rest of the Dragneels to wonder about what to do with the two free hours they had until the young man appeared again.

'_Damn brat… if I tell you it's because I understand what you want.'_ Natsu frowned at the door from which is son left and shook his head; he really wanted to pummel his son and make the idea enter his hard-headed skull, but it seemed as if he wouldn't be able to do it. Not now at least, and even less with the pressing matter they had to solve. _'And you won't get it here, that's for sure.'_

"Dad…" Eris scratched the back of her head and looked to the side, suddenly uncomfortable after that short discussion.

"I think you started that talk with the wrong foot, father." Elis pointed out, having the same feeling as her twin but withstanding it to voice her thoughts.

"You do know he doesn't like to talk about guilds, dad." And little Erza walked to stand next to her father with Happy resting quietly at the top of her head. This wasn't new to any of them, but it was still awkward whenever it happened. One would think that with their father knowing that, this kind of situation would be avoided, but it looks like the old man had a different point of view over the matter. "Now we'll have to wait two hours before asking him to join us…"

'_Dammit… if she were here, she'd know how to reach him.'_ Natsu turned his eyes to the young girl, making her flinch at his cold stare. He really was mad at Lotus for that issue they've been discussing over the years and what occurred just now didn't help matters at all. _'Really, why the hell do you have to be away at a moment like this?'_

"D-Dad?" The little girl asked timidly, trying to make the man snap out of it.

The cold stare continued on for a few seconds longer and, much to the sisters' relief, the man sighed and returned to normal, still sporting the disappointed frown on his face but with eyes that glinted with conflict and sadness. "Let's do as he said and go around the city for a while…"

He turned on his feet and walked to the exit of the building, avoiding the passing guardsmen that were dragging their partners out of the field and towards the infirmary. All the time with the gaze of his daughters following him, wondering what was the man thinking whenever he got quiet.

* * *

><p><em>Crocus's downtown…<em>

_A few minutes later…_

"It has to be about mom." Elis said once they got to a nice café down the main street of the city, talking to her sister while she sipped some of the tea that she asked for. "Whatever happened to mom has him on the edge and he doesn't want to tell us…"

"Unless we're all here to listen… it's probably something big, if that's the case." Eris answered casually as she finished the strawberry milkshake she asked for. She leaned back on her seat with her elbows resting on the back and looked out the window, towards the midday skies. "I remember mom telling me she was going to an S-class mission the last time we spoke…"

"Yeah, one of the difficult ones." The twin recalled, narrowing her eyes at the table with her hands holding onto the teacup. S-class missions were nothing to joke about, especially those that were between the toughest ones in the boards. The one that their mother took. "A ten years S-class mission."

"So that's why the old man was so worked up earlier."

"Eeeep!?" Both girls jumped out of their seats when a new person appeared and joined their conversation, scaring the hell out of them and making them turn to see who the eavesdropper was. Who they found though, was their older brother, followed by little Erza who was now carrying an awake and giggling Happy on her arms against her chest. "L-Lotus-nii!?"

"Sigh… really, that old man..." Taking a seat next to Elis, the older Dragneel sighed and leaned back with his arms folded over his chest, closing his eyes in irritation at the whole situation. "If he wanted to talk about mom he could've said so."

"Hey, it's not like you tried to change the topic when the argument started." Eris reminded him with a small scowl, moving a few inches to the side so that her little sister could take a place next to her. "You just left the place and went to take your beauty nap."

"Tch, it's not like I had a choice." Lotus muttered bitterly, opening his eyes to give a mild glare to his sister. He later softened them and looked towards the little one on the table, who was currently asking for some beverages for the two of them and a fish for Happy. "I'd have taken that nap if not 'cause Erz here talked to me after all of you were gone."

"Oh, so that's why you stayed behind." Elis said with realization striking her, now smiling gratefully to the little girl with them. "Nice job, Erzy, it's nice to see you can control this beast of a brother we have."

A vein formed on Lotus's temple and he growled lowly, feeling his irritation returning at two hundred percent. "_Oi…_"

While the young Erza only laughed nervously at the whole thing. "H-heheh… I-I just did what I thought best…"

"Well, good job… now we can finally hear about what happened to mom from dad and be on our way." Eris yawned with a hand covering her mouth and blinked a couple of times, seeing her siblings nodding to her in agreement through her tired eyes. "The problem though… is that we must find dad first…"

"That won't be necessary."

A new person appeared in their little group, making the girls jump and the boy to tense up.

"I saw your father mopping his way to the old Domus Flau not a moment ago." The person talking to them was a man who seemed to be close to their parents' age, of long and untamed black hair and many piercings adorning his face. What unnerved the youngsters a little were the man's red eyes, that seemed alike to those of a wild beast than a human's, with dark slits where the pupils were supposed to be. "That pinky's worried as hell for his woman, so I'd not leave him alone if I were you."

With that said, the man exited the building, not even bothering to hear the kitchen's staff that was yelling at him for eating all of their cooking utensils, and leaving a group of youngsters wondering what the hell just happened.

"…wasn't that…?" Little Erza broke the silence.

"…I'm pretty sure he was…" Eris followed, still sweating bullets at the sudden apparition.

"…and he was here because…?" Elis asked a bit curious, not knowing what that man could be doing there and that precise moment.

"Who cares? Gajeel-san said dad was going to the Domus Flau, that's all that matters." Lotus reminded the girls, indifferent about the person that gave the information to them and standing up from his seat to march towards their next destination. "If we go now, we'll catch up to him and get the answers we want."

Hearing all that they needed to hear, the girls stood up as well and followed after their brother.

Not listening to the café's owner who yelled at them for leaving without paying.

* * *

><p><em>Domus Flau…<em>

_Some more minutes later…_

The great coliseum known as the Domus Flau, the place where the strongest guilds gather once a year and fight for seven days to see who has the strongest wizards. It is the pride of Fiore and the capital city of Crocus, even though it has a dark past and foundation. Apparently, the whole Tournament was a ruse to hide a plan of the higher-ups, to gather magic power from the wizards fighting in that arena and to power up an old device that could transport people to the past. The plan failed, unfortunately, and instead, the device brought seven dragons to the current time, dragons that were barely contained by the wizards of that time.

After that, the games were over, the King decreed that the Tournament would not be held again and everything returned to the dull times of old. Yet, not a year passed since the Dragon Invasion that the games were resumed, due to public demand, and the competitions were brought back to life once more, this time with careful eyes on the organizers from the Guild Masters of the competing guilds.

Entering the building at this time of the year was not something easy to achieve, since the place remained locked down and guarded after the events were over, but it looked to the group of youngsters that there was no one impeding their path now.

"Ah, you must be the guests Lady Hisui spoke about." A couple of guardsmen greeted them, waving their hands and showing friendly smiles to the group, which confused them. "Please, go in, the place was reserved for your use today."

It's more, it seemed like the keepers of the place wanted them to enter the coliseum.

"Eh? Guests?" The twins questioned aloud, not really getting what was going on.

"U-uh… excuse me, but why are you letting us in?" Erza asked them a bit nervous.

"And what do you mean with _'reserved'_?" And Lotus threw in his own question, sensing something off in all of this.

"Oh, Natsu Dragneel-sama asked Lady Hisui for the use of the arena." One of the guardsmen explained while the other one moved to open the doors leading inside. "He probably explained why to the Queen but she didn't give any information to us… aside letting you in."

The young man's eyes narrowed. "And how do you know it is us who you're waiting?"

"Well, no one comes here during the time the place is closed… so that means you're the people we're waiting, right?" The soldier explained a bit troubled, suddenly having second thoughts about letting this group of kids enter.

"Okay, let's say we are the people you're supposed to let inside." Elis interrupted before another question from her brother could complicate things. She was slightly off with all of this too, but it wasn't enough to be getting aggressive with a couple of clueless guards. "Anything else we should know?"

"We weren't told much so no." The soldier told them flatly, foregoing his nervous and stepping aside when the great doors were pushed open. "If you want answers, you might as well ask Dragneel-sama… he's inside."

Sharing looks of both confusion and nervousness, the group nodded to the guards and entered the building, Eris falling behind the rest when she noticed a cloaked figure looking at them from one of the upper floors in the coliseum.

'_Eh? Who is that?'_ She wondered curiously, trying to see if she could get a glimpse of the onlooker's face before this one disappeared from sight. Her eyes widened slightly. To disappear in the blink of an eye, she could tell that the mysterious individual was strong, perhaps more than her and her siblings. _'First, Gajeel-san… and now this person…'_

It was all starting to become a little scary to her. Suddenly, she felt like a pawn in a game where the only thing told to her was where to move and when. Maybe her father would have the answers to all of this? She shook her head and looked back to her siblings, running to catch up to them and walking through the great number of halls and corridors with one destination in mind.

The sight that greeted after some minutes of walking was astounding for the little girl of the group, the only one who didn't participate in the Tournaments held inside the great coliseum. She watched the Grand Magic Games a couple of times in the last few years but the lacrima vision didn't do the place any justice.

It really was a place for only the strongest to fight.

'_I-It's huge…'_ Was the only coherent thought she could conjure after marveling at every detail of the huge structure.

Having the arena before their eyes, the group started to look around in search of the person that was supposedly waiting for them…

"_I'm having troubles here… so if you could hurry up a little, it'd be appreciated."_

"Sheesh, Erza… give me a break, you know how tough is to handle these brats."

"_I know, Natsu, I wouldn't have asked unless it was something serious."_

"That's true… yeah…"

…but all they could hear were the voices of two people, echoing inside the large place and confusing them as to the source of all the noise.

One thing was certain.

Their father was there.

And from how familiar the other voice sounded, and the name they heard, he was talking to their mother.

"_How much time?"_

"I'm guessing a few days more… probably three."

"…_you're not about to do what I think you will do, are you?"_

"Hahahah! Hey! Don't look at me like that, you know I cannot take them there if they aren't ready!"

"…_I guess you're right on that."_

"Yeah… and don't worry, I know you're running out of time and all… I'll make it quick."

"_Just don't be too harsh on them, Natsu."_

"Aye aye, I'll try not to."

"_..."_

"…"

"…_I'll be waiting."_

"…aye, be safe."

"Where the hell is he?" Lotus asked unnerved after hearing the conversation between their parents, scanning their surroundings with livid eyes that wanted an explanation.

"I don't know, but he must be close." Elis was doing the same, only that she wasn't as mad as her brother.

"His voice sounded clear as crystal so he must be around." Eris jumped a few steps higher in the arena and took a more ample view of the surroundings, finding nothing as her siblings.

"Happy? Can you smell dad around?" Erza asked to the blue cat that stood next to her, now anxious to know the details of their parents talk.

"Oh? Natsu is there…" Happy revealed to the group after jumping to the railing that separated the public stands from the arena, pointing to one of the exits/entrances used by the contestants on the lower floor.

The group turned as one to the tunnel that the blue cat pointed at and glued their eyes to it, trying to catch a glimpse of their hiding father, but the shadows of the tunnel and the position from which they were watching made it almost impossible to see if there was anyone there.

It was a blind-spot.

"Tch! Come on out, old man! This isn't funny!" Lotus yelled aloud with rage interlacing with his voice, jumping down to the arena with his legs bending and straightening in a mere blink. He started to run towards the tunnel and demand some answers from his father when he noticed something wrong.

The landscape turned upside-down in his eyes.

"W-what the…?" He was shocked.

No one ever managed to do something like this to him.

"I'd not rush like that… not when you don't know where the opponent is." Natsu spoke from behind the falling boy, standing with one outstretched arm and looking coldly at his firstborn that was now lying flat against the sand. He only had to flicker his wrist, add some strength to his hand, and the kid found itself in the current position. "That's a rookie's mistake, Lotus."

Lotus glared at his father from the ground and jumped to a standing position, clenching his teeth at the surprise attack. "You old geezer…!"

"Lotus!" The twins called, jumping to the arena in order to assist their brother.

"What are you doing, dad!?" Little Erza wanted to follow after her siblings but a small pawn clawing at the hem of her skirt stopped her. Looking down, Happy was holding her back without paying attention to her, his black, cat eyes focused on the veteran wizard in the middle of the arena. "H-Happy, why…?"

"Natsu is going to test them… he wants to see how strong they are." Happy explained simply, his plain and cold tone sending shivers to the little girl's spine aside surprising her. "Erza is okay with this, so you should step aside."

'_T-Test them…?'_ The girl questioned internally, not understanding why her parents wanted to test her sisters and brother. This really was strange to her; why would Natsu tell her that their mother was in danger and needed their help, gather them all in one place, and later fight them? To test them? To see how strong they are? It didn't make any sense to her. _'W-why would he need to do this?'_

"Sit back and watch…" The cat told her with the same tone, pulling from the hem of her skirt. "You might learn a thing or two with this."

Confused beyond her limits, Erza could only nod and do as told, worry in her eyes as she looked on towards the arena and the four wizards, her family, standing in the middle.

"F-Father, what's the meaning of this?" Elis questioned once she reached the position with her sister.

"What were you and mom talking just now?" Eris followed, confused as her siblings and wanting for an answer that could silence her questions.

Natsu remained quiet and regarded them with narrowed eyes, lowering his arm in the meantime.

This further annoyed his son, who now called his swords to make his point clear. "Say something, old man! What happened with mom!?"

"Your mom's alright… for now." The pink-haired man told them simply, inhaling a good amount of air to help with his concentration. He knew he would have to contain himself a little with them, so this would help him in keeping his restraints checked. "But she needs help, so I gathered you all to go and assist her."

The siblings threw disbelieving glances at their father.

"We don't have much time, so let's hurry up and start." Entering a basic combat stance, he stood with his right facing the girls and his left facing the boy, keeping his head even to have sight of both sides and fighters. "If you want to go with me and help her, you'll have to show me if you're capable of doing so."

Lotus grinded his teeth together and barked at the veteran wizard, now furious with all of this. "Stop messing around! Tell us where mom is!"

"Father… do you plan on taking us to help mom with her mission?" Elis, who was the only one that could keep herself level-headed despite the perplexing situation, nodded to her father and got into a stance, calling forth her humongous claymore to her hands. She swung it once, causing a small yet powerful wave of magic around her, and later rested it over her shoulder with both hands keeping it steady.

"If it's that, you could've said so…" Eris murmured a bit hurt at not being trusted by her father, bringing her palms together and separating them with a blazing fire forming in between them that took the form of a spear. She took hold of it from the middle with both hands and swung it a couple of times before letting rest behind her back with only one hand holding it.

"You're nothing but a pain in the ass, old man…" Lotus sneered to his father, slashing the air around him to stabilize his stance and delimit his personal space. Anything finding itself inside his range would be cut to pieces. And the better if it was the wizard in the middle of the arena.

Natsu paid no heed to his kids' words and let his magic reveal itself.

Setting his own fists ablaze with a fire stronger than that of his daughter.

And far more deathly.

"Enough talking… come here and show me your strength."

The twins shared a side-glance and nodded, looking back to their father and lunging.

Lotus clenched his hands around the hilts of his swords and leaped.

The veteran wizard in the middle waited.

And when the youngsters were within range.

The inferno started.

**To be continued.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: As for the question that's probably burning in everyone's mind right now - Nope, this story isn't taking a turn to the serious side of the force. *chuckles* Let's say that all will be explained in due time and leave it at that, arite? I swear the end of this will have you all laughing to your hearts' content. *nods* Meanwhile, why don't we sit comfortably on our chairs and see how this little family reunion ends up? *grins***

**Saludos.**

**PD: It's so nice to see that the number of Favs/Alerts don't match up with the number of reviews. But that's my opinion, don't mind me. *sulks in a corner full of mushrooms***


	3. Gray and Gajeel

**Disclaimer: Yo! Terevi no maino mina and whatever the hell that follows. I don't own this stuff. With that I mean, I don't own Fairy Tail. It's Mashima's, weee~. Sorry about that.**

* * *

><p><strong>Family.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fanfiction story.)_

* * *

><p><em>Domus Flau…<em>

_Central Arena…_

Sliding in between the two girls that were lunging towards him from the side, Natsu didn't have to do anything for the first strike against his older kids, seeing as the girls didn't get to catch him and his son leaped and landed over them. He only stood where the girls were a moment ago and stared in boredom at how their offensive was thwarted, with Lotus swinging his blades against the Elis and Eris, and the latter two using their own weapons to block their brother's strike.

"Oi! I'm here." He called mockingly, knowing that his taunts would get under his son's skin faster than with the girls.

"Damn old man!" And he was right. Lotus rushed blindly again and tried to cut him only to meet the same result.

"Tch, and Erza says you're like me." The pink-haired man sidestepped the blades to his chest and grabbed his son's wrists, pressuring them slightly to force him into letting go of the weapons before throwing the young man against the far walls surrounding the arena. "She's right on that… but I always tried to keep my mind focused on the fights."

Lotus's body collided against the walls of the coliseum with his form remaining glued to it and his eyes white due to the impact that made him lose consciousness. Seeing this, both girls remembered who they were dealing with, throwing careful glances at the old man in the arena.

"Now, you two…" The man who was their father was not a simple wizard from the previous generation, no, he was also one of the strongest from the mentioned one and a Dragon Slayer to boot. He looked at them and motioned for them to attack him, using a hand with one finger to produce the action. "What are you gonna do?"

His eyes set on the two and his fists still ablaze.

He just swatted the strongest of the three like nothing and they knew he didn't even use a tenth of his power.

This really put the twins at odds about what to do.

Silence surrounded the arena and Natsu grew impatient, calling for them again. "C'mon, we don't have all day, remember?"

'_W-we cannot win… not against him…'_ Elis admitted with gritted teeth and lowering her head. She had a few spars with her mother to perfect her swordsmanship a few times when she was around and, remembering those times, in which her mother didn't give in an inch of ground, she was able to get a pretty good idea of how fighting their father would be. _'T-this is just for father to show us that we're not ready for the tougher jobs.'_

She was going to throw her claymore away and call for surrender.

"Tch! We know that!" When a loud yell from her left made her snap back to attention and take a look of her twin, who was infuriated as her but with less depressive thoughts in her mind. Eris called off the spear of fire on her hands and stood ready to charge at her father again. There was no way she would lose after all she heard, after knowing both their parents had prepared all of this for them. "Stop acting like a wiseass and fights us fairly!"

Jaws dropped at her claim, including Natsu's.

"S-s-sister, what are you saying!?" Elis almost fell face-first against the ground at the insult. Never in her life had she thought of calling their parents offensive names like that.

"S-she called dad a… a…" Little Erza was really shocked, to say the least.

"A-aye…" Happy as well though with less shock, having short flashbacks of someone in particular that always did the same thing.

"W-wiseass!?" As for Natsu, he was feeling a mixture of astonishment, hurt and anger. His little girl was insulting him! Calling him a wiseass because of his sudden cold and unresponsive attitude! In his mind, it felt like a thousand arrows have been shot and lodged themselves in his heart. No, really. He was crying because of this. "W-what did I do to deserve this!?"

Okay, he did that plenty of times with every single person that got to his nerves.

Still, he never thought that his little girl would go and do the same to him!

Her own father!

'_Wait, didn't I call Igneel names too?'_ The question made him get into his memories for an answer and lose sight of the current situation, also of the sound of rushing footsteps and warnings. He sweatdropped as he continued to try and recall if he ever insulted his foster-father before. _'O-okay, I might've done that a few times…'_

"Heads up, moron!"

"U-uh? W-waaaaaaaaah!" Returning to reality, his eyes widened when a blazing fist entered his field of vision, colliding against his left cheek and sending him staggering comically a few steps back. He cried in mild pain and astonishment at the sucker punch from his daughter, now more shocked than before. "W-what the hell are you doing!?"

"Told you I was coming!" Eris stood proudly where he father previously was and scoffed, shaking the hand she used to punch her father so as to get it rid of the slight pain she could feel in its knuckles. Resting her hands on her hips, she eyed the heart-broken, teary-eyed man with narrowed eyes and grinned in amusement, finding the picture incredibly funny. "Sup, dad? Caught you with your pants down?"

"H-Hell no! And what the hell with that attitude, girl!?" Natsu yelled in rage, pointing an accusing finger at the chuckling girl meters away from him while the rest of the spectators only stared at the scene without knowing how to react. "Wiseass!? Moron!? I thought I taught you better than that!"

"Uh… nope, that was mom." The girl answered casually, scratching the back of her head in thinking. "She tried really hard to make me into a proper lady and whatnot…"

The pink-haired man narrowed his eyes, not getting the point in her words. "A-and why do you still talk like that, then!?"

"Oh!" Eris grin widened and she stood proudly at her next words, a finger pointing at her smiley face. "Because you always told me to be myself, remember?"

Elis, Happy and the little Erza sweatdropped at the answer, directing their eyes at the man guilty of this.

And Natsu went pale. "I… I did what…?"

"She's right."

The man's eyes widened and he was forced to get away from his spot in the arena.

"You always told us to be ourselves when we were kids, old man." Reappearing a few meters away, at some good distance from the girls and his son, Natsu heard Lotus reminding him of what he said many years ago. The young man looked a bit bruised, probably for the strong collision against the walls, but nonetheless fine and suited to continue with the new pair of swords in his hands. "Don't say you forgot your own words."

Clicking his tongue at the taunt, the pink-haired, who was already tired of so much thinking, went back at it and tried to remember if he really said such a thing.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback~<em>

"Lotus! Clean up your room! Eris! Elis! Stop fighting for that doll!"

"I cleaned it last week!"

"Give me that! It's mine!"

"No! It's not!"

"Natsu! Help me out, will you!?"

"Uh… they're just being themselves… what's wrong with that?"

"Yeah! Dad's right!"

"Thanks, dad!"

"NAAAAAAAAAAATSUUUUUUUUUUU!"

_End of the Flashback~_

* * *

><p>'<em>Oh yeah… I got beat up because of that…'<em> The man thought grimly after the short, family flashback was over, scratching the sides of his chest –where his wife kicked him for a day after that- because of the memory. He really was dense back when the kids were troublesome brats and said more than a thing or two that was now biting him back in the ass. _'Erza really had the time of her life with me back then…'_

Talking of Erza…

"Dad! Look out!" The little girl yelled loud enough for him to pick up her voice and he came out of his musings, just in time to notice a massive claymore about to turn him into something close to thin paper and jump away. The little girl heaved a sigh of relief.

"Erzy! Not fair! You're on our side!" Elis yelled to the little girl in the stands, who stuck her tongue out and did a funny face in answer with Happy giggling next to her. The strict twin got stiff and felt a vein popping on her forehead at the action, wanting now to switch targets and see if she could slap some sense into her little sister's head. "Y-you brat…!"

"Jeeez, that was close." The older wizard of the four stood back again and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He stared at the three youngsters in the arena with him and shook his head after a moment, directing a thump up and a grin to the youngest of them, "Thanks, Erza!" before returning to his solemn demeanor with the others. "As for you three… I guess this is a good time to start getting serious."

"Serious?" Elis asked with an eyebrow quirked in confusion.

"You're the only one taking this as a joke, old man." Lotus shook his head not believing in the threat.

"Yeah, and that's because we're trying to distract you and… beat you… without you noticing… it…?" Eris started to say but stopped when it was already too late, having noticed the signs made by her siblings to keep her mouth shut and not spout about their plan to defeat the older wizard. She dropped to her knees in shame. "O-oh shit… what did I do…?"

Natsu chuckled at the picture and shook his head with a small, teasing smile. "Well now, isn't that just a super-secret plan no one would've noticed?"

The mastermind of said plan, Elis, blushed in embarrassment and yelled to her father. "S-shut up!"

"I… I-I'm really sorry, sis…" Eris called from her position on the ground, extending a hand to reach for her sister's forgiveness. "I-I just blurted it out… I-I…"

"You too! We could've beaten him if not for you!" Elis changed her target and now yelled to her twin, obviously enraged at her failure.

"B-but sis…!"

"Shut up already!"

And all the while, Lotus felt like using his own swords to stab himself, so as to win some time in this one-sided fight. He brought a hand to cover his ashamed face and stepped a few inches away from them. "I can't believe they're my sisters…"

"Anyway…" The pink-haired man went back to business and eyed the three youngsters with narrowed eyes, calling for his flames again at the same time he closed his hands into fists. If he needed to be more graphic for them to understand, then he had no troubles whatsoever. "Get ready."

The three youngsters stopped their shenanigans and turned to see their father with attention.

They felt not just a change in his tone, it was also in the magic power emanating from his body.

"Don't lower your guard." Extending the fire burning brightly around his fists to the rest of his body, Natsu became a walking torch with wild flames dancing around him, making the air of the coliseum suffocating and difficult to be breathed by his offspring. Glowing red eyes stared from the inside of the inferno to the kids and all of them gulped in preparation. "Here I come."

He leaned forward to signal his charge and disappeared before the surprised faces of his kids, reappearing in a blink before his oldest and only boy with a fist embedding itself in Lotus's gut.

"G-gah!" The strongest was sent flying again and Natsu stood alone with his eyes seeing the boy flying to the skies.

"Eris!" The stoic twin appeared behind him with her weapon raised…

"I know!" …and the other was in front of him with a blade of fire in her hand, both aiming to strike him at the same time from different angles to leave him with no exits.

A shadow hid the pink-hair's eyes from view and he disappeared again, this time moving fast to hit Elis with a kick to her left side and swipe Eris off her feet in one motion.

It all seem to go in slow-motion for him; the girls were shocked and still in the air that surrounded him for when he stood upright again.

This was really out of their league.

"Fire Dragon's…!" A loud yell from above and Natsu snorted in dry amusement, looking up to see Lotus inhaling a large amount of air in preparation for a spell that he knew like the back of his hand. The older Dragon Slayer clicked his tongue and threw a small fireball to the young man's mouth, silencing him and stopping the incoming attack before it could be made. "W-waah!"

"I really, really need to teach you all how to fight." He stated once the boy hit the ground and the girls recovered from the early shook up. Some part of him was relieved to know that they weren't ready to take onto the more difficult missions, since Erza's current job was suited for wizards like the two of them and was more than likely to be lethal. Yet, the other part of him was disappointed, and with good reason. His kids were all strong, stronger than most youngsters of their same age, and they were still unable to even lay a finger on him. Even though he was only giving a tenth percent in the fight. "I can't believe you're all so weak."

"S-shut up!" Using her hands to support her body upside-down, Eris tried to deliver a spinning kick to the man's face and a hand grabbed her ankle, throwing her towards the rising Lotus and leaving them both down for the moment. "D-dammit…"

"Y-you're heavy…" Lotus grunted from beneath, barely able to breathe.

"S-shut up…" The girl retorted half-harshly, not having too much strength to berate him.

"Sure, you have guts and all…" Natsu closed his eyes and remembered the lesson he got back when he was still young, the lesson he got at that time he fought someone stronger than him. Back in the island belonging to his guild. Someone unreachable for his former self. "But if you don't know your limits, those same guts will be your end."

"We know that!" A tremor was felt and the pink-haired man jumped from the cracking ground, looking back and down to Elis and her massive claymore, which was embedded in the ground. Despite her panting form, she still had some strength left, enough to raise her weapon and create an opening for her two siblings. His father was in the air now and that meant he wouldn't be able to dodge so easily. "L-Lotus! Eris!"

Both siblings stood up quickly, albeit a bit shakily at the call and prepared themselves.

"Oh?" Curious about this, Natsu chose to wait and see what the kids would do.

"Ready?" Lotus asked to his sister, handing her one of his swords.

"Ready!" Eris took it in her hands and enveloped it with her flames.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Arts!" The young man spun his sword at the fastest speed he could and let its tip be consumed by fire, which started to form a ring of his size before him. He narrowed his eyes at the pressure, at the amount of magic he was gathering and shrugged it off, swinging his blade with all his strength and sending a swirling mass of flames to surround his father. "Crimson Lotus! Blazing Wings!"

'_So… finally managed to use that one in combination with your sword, huh?'_ Natsu thought nostalgically, amazed at the sight of his magic joining that of his wife in one destructive spell made by his son. The old Exploding Flame Blade joined together with Erza's Sword magic to create many waves of oppressive fire, even more deathly than the original and perhaps stronger. It brought a small nostalgic smile to crack his serious façade. Despite the other things, his boy didn't stop surprising him. But… "Using fire against a Fire Dragon Slayer is not smart, Lotus."

The whirlwind of flames was heading straight for him, ready to overwhelm him with multiple barrages of explosive fire from all angles. Not many would be able to escape such spell unscathed. Yet, Natsu only had to raise a finger, reach into the essence of the fire and change its direction to his mouth. Eating the boy's trump card without a single droplet of sweat falling from his brow.

Glancing down at the scowling face of his son, Natsu was going to praise the new technique of the boy… "Impressive, Lotus, but that's the end of-"

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Arts!" …but a voice from behind made his eyes widen. He noticed now, his boy was grinning smugly at his lack of sight. Eris wasn't next to Lotus anymore and instead used the diversion made by the swirling flames to slip past the pink-hair's defenses and strike from the rear. Looking over his shoulder, his thoughts were confirmed.

Eris was in the air with him, having used a boost of flames to get herself into the same height as him, and she held one of her brother's blades high with both of her hands enveloping it with flames. She smirked at the shocked face of her father and brought the sword down, along with the spell she created. "Scarlet Rose! Infernal Blade!"

The flames gathered on the edge of the blade, turning into a concentrated slash of fire and Natsu noticed that he had no way to counter it when it was released.

The attack connected and sent him plummeting to the arena in less than a second, raising a large amount of sand and dust upon his crashing.

The younger of the siblings, Erza, who was watching the fight from the sidelines, stood still in both shock and amazement.

Her brother and sisters managed to hit her father.

"W-wow…" Even Happy was amazed by the feat, having no more words to say than what he mouthed.

It really was impressive.

"D-did we do it?" Eris asked shakily once she landed on the ground, falling to one knee in exhaustion with the sword helping her in keeping herself steady after the spell she used and that consumed most of her magic.

"I don't think so…" Lotus whispered once he joined her side, eyeing the crash site with attentive eyes and helping her up by taking one of her arms and swinging it across his shoulders. The blade he had in his hand and the one he gave to his sister were returned to his pocket dimension.

"But that weakened him a little, right?" Elis asked them a bit nervous, rushing to her siblings' side and guarding them since they were now spent. She was in no better condition, but it was still better than theirs.

The dust continued to float around the area where Natsu fell and the three youngsters remained tensed, waiting for a silhouette or voice to confirm/deny their suppositions.

"Damn."

Until they finally heard a voice from in between the settling dust, one that they didn't recognize as their father's.

"You gotta admit they did a number on you, flame-brain." The voice continued, puzzling the kids with the different tone, its mocking nature and the nickname at the end of the sentence. That wasn't their father. Who could be there in the middle of cloud of dust with the pink-haired man? "They even caught you off-guard."

"Tch, that's what ya get for braggin', Salamander." And yet another voice they couldn't pin-point made itself known, though this one seemed a bit more familiar. "Should've kicked their butts while ya still could."

"Oh, shut up." A wave of magic erupted from the center of the cloud and cleared it out, letting the siblings see what was happening in its midst and find their father, with the sleeves of his black trench coat ruined, and flanked by two other men that seemed to be as old as him. He looked extremely annoyed by the two guys' presence in the arena. "And who told you to come here, huh? I can handle this by myself!"

"Oi, is that how you talk to us after so long?" The first to speak was a man a few inches taller than Natsu, with black, almost dark blue hair and squinted eyes. He was currently wearing… nothing, making the girls look away, and was standing with an amused smirk on his face and arms crossed over his chest. "You never change, Natsu, always blowing things up."

"Kekeke, give pinky some credit, stripper." And the second one was the same person that told them of their father's whereabouts earlier. Long and untamed black hair, many piercings… yes, it was Gajeel Redfox alright. "At least he managed to not blow this up… imagine what his woman would've done to him otherwise."

The first man, Gray Fullbuster, shivered at the mere mention of the pink-hair's wife, suddenly feeling terrified. "Y-yeah, Erza would've made him rebuild the damn coliseum if he happened to go overboard."

Natsu was pale at realizing the truth in their words, suddenly feeling very grateful for how he contained himself during the test he gave to his kids. "Oh shit… you're right."

Gray and Gajeel smirked smugly at him. "We always are."

"U-uh… sorry to intrude but…"

"Huh?" Looking to the front of them, Gray almost screamed like a little girl at the sight of the scarlet-haired woman standing a few meters away. That is, almost. It took him a second to remember that this was one of the woman's daughters and not the real deal. This wasn't the one that could scare the hell out of him with a simple glare. "Yeah? What do you want?"

"Is the test over or what?" Lotus asked to the group of guys, walking a bit slow towards them because of the weight of his sister that he was carrying and his own fatigue. He recognized them from a long time ago, people that were now in different places and following their own paths. He knew they were friends of the family, hence his lack of respect while talking.

"Beats me… we don't know jack shit about a test in the first place." Gajeel answered crudely, smirking in amusement when he noticed what the boy had revealed, looking back to the pink-haired man for clarification. "Oi, Salamander, what's this? A test? I'm pretty sure that woman didn't ask you that."

'_Great… why don't you just sell me out with her too?'_ Natsu felt the confused eyes of his kids on him and he groaned, immediately kicking the black-haired man away in answer. "Stop making me look like a bad father, metal-head!"

"Hah! You don't need any help with that, fire-breath." Gray commented with amusement, watching how the two Dragon Slayers got into an argument of sorts because of that kick and shaking his head at all of it. Some things never changed, indeed. He turned to the group of kids, catching from the corner of his eyes the approach of the younger one of the four, and nodded to them when they were all in one place. "And about that test… and your mother…"

The siblings stood to attention at the mention of their mother.

"I'll tell you all about it once we stop these two and get you three patched up." The Ice Devil Slayer concluded simply, shrugging to their baffled expressions and turning to follow the Iron and Fire Dragon Slayers out of the arena and towards the infirmary. "Hey! Stop fighting! I won't pay a single jewel in reparations, you hear me!?"

* * *

><p><em>Outside of Crocus…<em>

_Several hours later…_

Night fell across that side of the world and covered it all with its azure tints, those almost reaching an impenetrable black if not for the dazzling shine of the moon, which happened to be in its first quarter, and surrounded by the many stars that painted the skies as if it was covered by glitter without missing a single day.

Quite the beautiful and poetical sight for sore eyes.

Especially for those which were camping in the middle of the forest at one side of the road.

That same forest around the clearing was calm, perhaps too calm, some of the youngsters noted, not even showing the slightest hint of a breeze to sway the leaves of the trees or the sounds of the animals around. Maybe there was someone watching them, waiting for them to drop their guard, but if the older men with them didn't do anything, who knew? Maybe they were being a little paranoid?

"Tch! Relax, you brats!" Gajeel scolded for the umpteenth time since they left Crocus and the safety of its walls for the unknown surroundings of the forests to the north. He crossed his arms and glared at each one of them, except the little one, who he figured that was afraid because of inexperience. "No damn vulcan or beast's gonna jump from those bushes!"

"H-how're you so sure?" The little one asked, being the most frightened at the moment and getting even more edgy at the man's words. Vulcans? Beasts? Those didn't sound… good, in her opinion.

"We just know, okay?" Gray reassured them poorly, now fully clothed and throwing another log to the fire they made to keep themselves warm during the night. If it were up to him, he would keep his mouth shut and let them deal with it on their own, but since they were all stiff and looking everywhere… _'I'm pretty sure we weren't this scared when we were their age.'_ "Ease up and enjoy the warmth."

"Here," Natsu scooped the little girl in his arms and made her sit on his lap, holding her close to his chest without waiting for any words to be said. He looked down at the little one and cleared away the doubt in her eyes with a bright grin. "If something appears, I'll just beat the hell out of it, okay?"

"O-okay…" Little Erza fidgeted a little more in her position until she decided to just forget about it, lean back and place her trust in her father. From what she saw earlier, her father was more than capable of protecting them if anything were to happen, and if he said everything was alright, she was going to believe him.

The twins eased their own nervousness at the sight, smiling slightly in memory of when their father did the same for them.

Nice memories from times that were gone, yet not wasted.

"Okay, they stopped fighting and we're patched up." And Lotus; he was on guard currently, seeing as his shift was the first of the night, and he wasn't able to do the same as the others and relax. Even if the scene of a minute ago tempted him to do so. He sat at the middle branch of a tree nearby, arms crossed, Happy sleeping on his lap and gaze looking for anything that could be moving in the darkness. "Can you tell us what're we gonna do?"

"Yeah… you said our mother didn't agree to that test of earlier." Eris mentioned with her eyes fixed on Gajeel, remembering his words earlier.

"But then… father spoke to mother before the fight and she said it was okay." Elis recalled as well, suddenly confused by the contradictions.

"Oh? You managed to convince Erza, Natsu?" Gray asked curiously to the pink-haired man opposite to him, separated only by the small fire of their camp.

"Yeah… she relented for some days but I managed to change her mind about it." Natsu answered quietly, focusing his eyes on the fire to avoid the inquisitive eyes of his children.

"If she wants to take her family to that job, she better be damn sure they're ready." The Iron Dragon Slayer commented, narrowing his eyes to a passing thought in his mind. Something that troubled him for a second before he resumed his talking. "From that show earlier, they're almost there. Almost, that is."

"…maybe." The pink-haired answered in the same fashion, giving a weak smile when the little girl in his arms looked up to him in worry.

"Man, it's probably going to be too much for them." The Ice Devil Slayer muttered, eyeing the youngsters and remembering their performances during the short fight. He watched the whole fight by hiding in the grades of the top, using a cloak to cover himself from view and be undisturbed during the fight. Though he remembered that one of the twins got a glimpse of him when they were entering the coliseum. Oh well, he was no expert in infiltration, that's for sure. "But if we're there, there might be no need for them to do a lot."

"What do you mean?" Elis asked in cluelessness, the same cluelessness that she shared with her siblings. This conversation seemed very interesting and more. The curiosity to know all the details was killing her. And still, the older wizards didn't look willing to give them all the information. "What's the job that mother took?"

Gray returned his eyes to the fire and Gajeel occupied his mouth with some bolts he brought as snacks.

Leaving only Natsu to answer his kids' questions.

She looked at him and saw the doubt in his eyes, of something troubling him.

It prompted her to ask again to get his attention. "Father?"

"Erza's job involves stopping an invasion in Isenberg, to the north." The pink-haired man begun, keeping his tone steady and his eyes on the fire. He was troubled about what they had to do and if it was really needed for this many people to be gathered, asking his wife more than once if it was really needed for Gray, Gajeel, his kids and him to go and assist her. "It would be something simple if it were a normal invasion… but…"

"But it's no normal invasion." Lotus finished for him, focusing his attention more on the conversation than in the peaceful surroundings. He knew that being careful was not a bad thing but he was sure that his troops and he cleaned the forests around Crocus in a weekly basis, so as to protect the travelers. Like them now, so he didn't see the point in focusing whole-heartedly in standing vigilant. "What's the catch?"

"The country that's invading is also bringing wizards with them… or that's what Erza said, at least." Gray followed, poking a few logs in the fire with a stick to rearrange them and keep it burning brightly. Truth be told, he had the same worries as his rival, and they sure were annoying the hell out of him.

"Strong wizards." Gajeel added with a feral grin, looking forward to the fights with his mind leaving the doubts aside. If anything were to happen and they were tricked, he'd just fight his way out as always.

"Aye… that's why she needs back-up." Natsu finally looked up from the fire and eyed the youngsters, his wife and his offspring. They were all eager and willing to go and assist their mother and father in whatever endeavor they might have. Still, he was troubled about it all. _'I have a bad feeling about this.'_ "And that's why we're going to Isenberg."

The youngsters looked at each other in trouble and then at the older men, trying to figure out what to do in this situation. They really wanted to go, help their parents and maybe grow a little stronger in the process.

"Wait." Eris spoke up in the silence, calling some eyes to her. She brought her knees to her chest and threw a side-glance to her father, suddenly remembering something that was making the situation a little confusing to her. "Mom said that she was doing a ten years S-class mission."

Natsu nodded. "She is."

"All this thing about an invasion…" Elis continued, now having noticed what was wrong and that her twin sister was trying to point out. "An invasion doesn't last ten years… how's-?"

"That's because this shitty war could've been avoided if someone had done something ten years ago." Gajeel barked after spitting some rusty bolts to the fire, narrowing his eyes at the group of kids. "The original job was to go and try to make peace between Isenberg and that other country… no one took it."

"And now we have war." Gray sighed and ran a hand through his locks, a bit embarrassed about the whole issue even if it didn't have anything to do with him. Maybe, if he weren't so inclined to fighting-based jobs, he could've done something. But then, if no one else did, he figured it wasn't his fault completely. "The job's objective changed, the client is the same."

"Aye… and Erza took it to help the people there." Natsu sighed as well and shook his head, lying his chin at the top of his now sleeping daughter's head. He cracked a smile when he managed to hear a barely audible snore coming from her, aside her rhythmic breathing against his chest. "Problem is, she cannot face an army on her own, at least not if there're also wizards in it…"

"So we're going." Lotus looked down with pensive eyes and then nodded, accepting the job without anything else to be said. It could be a good time to exit the capital and test out his abilities, like his father told him to do when they met that afternoon. "I'm in."

"Same." - "Me too." Elis and Eris nodded too. The two of them could use some time away from their guild and Hargeon, get a bit of fresh air and also experience from looking at their parents dealing with a tough job. Nothing lost, several gains.

"What about the lil'one? It'll be too dangerous for her, pinky." Gajeel reminded the group, his eyes fixed on the man serving as the girl's pillow and his dumb smile when gazing at her sleeping form. "I don't have anything against her coming… but I ain't no babysitter."

"Me neither." Gray added dryly, poking the fire one more time before giving it a rest to hear what his friend had to say.

"Don't worry."

Remembering his previous worries and bad premonitions about the job.

Natsu took a good amount of air and released it all through his mouth.

Forgetting all about them with a smile working its way to his lips.

He looked down when she snuggled against his chest to be more comfortable.

And his smile widened.

"I'll look after her."

**The end.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: *hides behind some crates* Okay, don't kill me, I know I finished the story at the most intriguing part but that's because... well, you know, author's stuff... that and I'm still busy with college. Some time will pass before I can dedicate this idea and A Change of Scene my full attention. I mean... I think I have Finals from this next week up to the 17th of December! *faints slightly* Oh my... I wonder if I'll survive.**

**Anywho, what do you think? Does this idea have potential? Can you see it as a full-fledged story? Anything you'd like to point out? Whatever comes to your mind and that you want to ask or etc, I'm all ears... erh, eyes. Yeah. It'll be nice to see if this story has future or not... because, as you might have read from some other authors "why would I continue a story that people don't review? It makes me feel like I'm writing for myself... and if it's like that, I'd rather keep it all in my comp instead of publishing it here.". I think it was an author from the Elsword archive... or maybe it was Nispedana... who knows? I just know I read it somewhere. *nods***

**Okay, enough rambling.**

**Thanks for reading this small story, let's hope that we meet again for its continuation.**

**Saludos.**


	4. Reminisce: Eris

**Disclaimer: I don't own this series or anything related to it, except the story-ideas.**

_A/N: New story format… I guess that's how this could be called. Nothing fancy in it or too different (perhaps the readers that have been following me from some time will notice the differences, who knows?), just how my stories are introduced… I needed to have a fresh start or make something that would make me feel like I'm doing something new. So, instead of copy-pasting an old document, deleting its contents and starting a new story, I wrote all of this from scratch. *nods* It feels much better, I must admit._

_Alright, let's get this show on the road, shall we?_

* * *

><p><strong>Family:<strong>

**Reminisce**

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Capital city of Crocus I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I Domus Flau Arena I.-.-.I_

_(1 year prior to the actual story)_

A new year has come and with it, a new tournament in the ever-bustling capital of Fiore. People from all ethnicities and places were roaming the streets during this time of the year in search of something to pass the time or just for sightseeing, but not because that were to be their goal.

The actual goal of all these people was to witness the incredible tests of might that were passed upon the qualified guilds in the competition of the Grand Magic Games. Tests of endurance, skill, strength, raw power, etc. Anything that the imagination could conjure, considering the events of said tournament varied with each year and tested the wizards in many different ways, except for the final event.

The all-out battle between the eight guilds which fought for title of the strongest in the continent.

"Damn, this's boring the hell out of me…"

"Can't you endure it a little more? There're only three days left before the end of the tournament."

"I could if I were one of the participants! But that old man told me to sit back and let the brats handle it!"

"Sigh… you know why's that, Natsu… don't complain."

Of course, the all-out battle was still some days away and, currently, the event of the day was a simple test of marksmanship. Nothing that could be called exciting for some, considering how not many of the wizards from the new generations wielded magic-based weaponry, but still quite the sight. From that small amount of gunners, not all of them were proficient with the use of those same weapons, after all.

"And with a good eye set on her target! Azuka Connell secures ten points for Fairy Tail!"

"Would you look at that?" Seeing the once little girl of Alzack and Bizca on the arena with her weapon of choice, a magic revolver, on her hand while the other waved in appreciation to the cheering crowd, Natsu couldn't help but let out a small smile. "She came a long way from that toy gun she used to have…"

"Aye, she did…" Lucy smiled nostalgically at the fond memories, having the image of the little girl, now a woman, still fresh in her mind. One really had to marvel at how much people could change with only some years passing. Though some years was an understatement in this situation. "I'm sure her parents are proud."

"You don't say… those two are really loud despite the old age." The pink-haired Dragon Slayer muttered with his pinky finger cleaning his ear, watching how the rest of the guild cheered on for the young woman's victory. "I can hear them all the way from here…"

"Now that I think about it… why are you here?" The Celestial Spirit wizard turned to look at her old friend with a curious glint in her eyes, catching onto something she didn't notice when her former teammate arrived and took a seat next to her. "You're still a member of the guild, right? Shouldn't you be with them?"

"Tch, don't give me that, Lucy… you know I cannot leave a friend on its own." Natsu replied with a scoff, crossing his arms and sending a semi-glare to the blonde.

After a decade more of adventures and publishing her first book with successful praises from the critics, Lucy left the guild and went on to live a tranquil life in Magnolia. That was around fourteen years ago. Because of that, she was not allowed to join the others in the balcony for guilds, and had to sit with the rest of the spectators.

"Eh…?" Lucy blinked at his answer and then brightened up, grinning in gratitude to the Dragon Slayer before this same grin turned mischievous. She scooted a few centimeters closer to the man and elbowed his side, using one hand to cover her mouth and have him as her sole listener. "You sure Erza won't think wrong of this, hmmm~?"

"Oh, I don't know…" The pink-haired man rolled his eyes and gave a grin of his own, closing his eyes contently when he sensed the blond woman flinch. "I'm pretty sure you'd be the only one in danger if she happens to think wrong of this."

"A-ah…" Remembering the scarlet-haired woman possessive nature towards the Dragon Slayer, Lucy nodded slowly and scooted back to her place, adding a few centimeters more of distance between the two as precaution. Much to the man's amusement. "R-right."

"That ends the Marksmanship Event with Fairy Tail in first place!"

"Blue Pegasus managed to secure the second spot, surprisingly."

"And Griffin Feathers follows in third place!"

"Huh, that new guild is doing pretty good for being newly founded." Gray mused aloud from his position in the guild's balcony, sharing his thoughts with Laxus and Mira while the others continued to roar in excitement at their new victory. "And all of their members seem pretty strong too…"

"Sabertooth, Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale are the leading scorers… and the three are tied at the top." Laxus noted with his eyes going to the scoreboard flashing in the magic-screens around the arena, noticing how the new guild was close to catching up with the three older guilds. "These new guys are some points behind but if they win the next event and those of the following days…"

"We do have the battle royal of the seventh day to secure more points anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about it." Mirajane kept her eyes fixed on the participants of Griffin Feathers and narrowed them at each of them, wondering how people with so many distinct personalities and attires could all be working together as a team. From afar, it looked like a team organized at the last minute, even mercenaries. "Especially if we know how our opponents' magic and fighting-styles work."

Gray sweatdropped and laughed lowly at the white-haired woman's comment, suddenly feeling a shiver running down his spine. "I wouldn't like to be your enemy, Mira…"

In turn, the woman only smiled sweetly, also making Laxus a bit nervous. "Why, thank you~."

"Now, the moment everyone has been waiting for!"

"The duels of the day; where the wizards will have to show their potential in one-on-one fights."

"And we'll be starting with…!" The announcers and the crowd looked at the screens to see the live drawing, watching the guild insignias swapping one after the other at top speed before slowing down to reveal the first fight of the day. "Fairy Tail vs. Griffin Feathers!"

The crowd roared in cheers of excitement.

"…can I say I saw it coming?" Lotus grumbled as he stared at the screens from his position by the guards' outpost at the highest point of the coliseum, watching the events with his men behind and a woman of hair similar to his standing next to him. He was incredibly bored out of his mind with all of this.

"Don't." The woman next to him sighed and shook her head at his childishness, crossing her arms and looking down in disappointment. "If you're not going to say something good, you better keep quiet."

The young captain of the city guard groaned loudly, faking a childish tone that made his men chuckle under their breaths. "Ah~! But mom~!"

"Your sisters and friends are doing their best to win this tournament, Lotus, you could at least show a bit of support for them." Erza opened her eyes and turned her head to look at her firstborn, giving him a stoic glance that made him sigh and stand up properly. "Don't be like that."

"Aye aye, I won't… I was just voicing out my thoughts, mom." Lotus replied nonchalantly, waving the issue away and focusing his gaze on the preparations that were made on both sides of the arena. He narrowed his eyes when he noticed how little the members of the new guild spoke and how they had their next contester ready and waiting for Fairy Tail's side to present their own. "Huh, that was quick."

"Considering Griffin Feathers doesn't even have seven months since being created, I'm not surprised at how detached are their members with each other." The veteran wizard pointed out, noting on how their side seemed to be taking a few minutes more of preparation because of a quarrel to see who would participate. On the other hand, the opponent guild was waiting patiently, not a single sound coming from them. Still, her eyes narrowed. "I'm rather surprised at how confident they are, though."

The young swordsman nodded in agreement, having noted that too. The contestant from Griffin Feathers was waiting patiently with his partners behind, stretching up his arms and smirking confidently at the coming fight. "Yeah… something's up with them."

"You think so?" Lucy asked a bit surprised to the Dragon Slayer, seeing him nod with his eyes glued to the arena. She looked at the same thing as him and her eyes landed on the young man from Griffin Feathers that was about to fight against Fairy Tail. "Hmmm… well, they do look a bit odd, to be honest."

Natsu nodded and leaned back, getting himself comfortable to watch the fight with all of his attention. "Keep your eyes open, just in case."

The blonde nodded without a moment's hesitation; she still had some memories of how her victory was stolen from her during her fight against Flare Corona decades ago, and all because the red-haired woman of Raven Tail got outside help. "Got it."

"Okay, I won the rock-paper-scissors' match! I'm going!" In Fairy Tail's side, the supposed preparations were over and Eris jumped from the huddled group of wizards with her hand high, a bright grin of joy highlighting her face. She stood with one hand on her hip and the other fashioned like scissors, chuckling at the defeated gazes of her friends and sister. "Hehehe~! Sorry, guys, better luck next time."

"I'm pretty sure I was going to win…" A young boy, close to her age and of blond hair, whispered pitifully as he held out his hand stretched out, symbolizing paper.

"She cheated." Azuka commented dryly, also holding her hand out as paper.

"I think the same." Elis added her two cents, glaring softly at her twin.

"Likewise." And the fifth member, another boy but with dark blue hair, joined the others.

Eris's grin only widened at their comments and she stuck out her tongue at them, turning around without losing another second and jumping down to the arena instead of using the tunnels at the bottom.

The crowd roared again now that the preparations were over.

"Oh-ho~! Eris Dragneel from Fairy Tail has entered the arena!

"We heard a lot of good things from her this past year."

"This fight seems promising."

At the opposite side of the field, the chosen wizard from Griffin Feathers mimicked her actions and jumped down from the team's balcony, landing without raising a single bit of dust around him and still sporting a confident smirk on his face, which only served to alarm the veteran wizards in the coliseum some more.

His clothing choice was a long-sleeved purple shirt with the top buttons undone and the collar high, a buttoned-up black vest over it and black dress pants with matching shoes. Over the formal clothes he wore, he had a metallic pauldron over his left shoulder and strange devices floating next to the sides of both his waist and ankles. Spiky, white hair styled forward with the sides flat, glowing purple eyes, his stature seemed to be a few inches longer than that of the scarlet-haired young woman he was about to fight.

"And from the mysterious new guild, we have…! U-uh…? How's this spelt?"

"V…? I think that's what the sheet says…"

"Griffin Feathers presents yet another mystery to us."

"V? Are you serious?" Eris asked with some amusement, finding the one letter name to be hilarious as she walked forward and stopped a few meters away from the white-haired man at the center of the arena. She clutched the sword given to her by her brother and snorted at his confident smirk. "'Sides being cocky you also have a lame name… figures…"

Lucy sweatdropped at the words of the young woman. "She certainly took a lot of traits from you, Natsu…"

In turn, the Dragon Slayer scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Seems like she did, huh?"

"Oi, I don't have a problem with my lame name but don't tell me I'm cocky." V retorted with a frown taking the place of his smirk, narrowing his eyes at the woman's words. He crossed his arms over his chest and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "The only cocky person here is you, tomboy."

In the stands, the people that knew Eris stared wide-eyed at the guy's counter. "…he just dig his own grave."

"HUH!?" Eris, for another matter, felt her insides boiling in anger at the adjective used to describe her, suddenly doing a one-eighty in her merry attitude to glare daggers at the white-haired wizard that called her tomboy. "What did you say!?"

"Heh! Are you deaf, woman?" V, unfazed by her harsh glare, continued to mock her. For the spectators it looked like he was edging her on to start the fight with a big bang, but for those experienced, it looked like he was wishing to die without knowing what the hell happened. "I said that you're manlier than most dudes I've met!"

"Eris is the man!" A loud yell came from Fairy Tail's balcony.

The sound of something breaking came from the arena.

And Natsu in between the crowd and Erza in the guards' outpost could only do one thing.

Facepalm.

Everyone watched with wide eyes at how the young woman's body was covered by wild flames in less than a second, untamable waves of fire that wanted nothing more than to turn the man in the arena to ashes as quickly as possible.

"W-what a great display of power!"

"The match hasn't even started and one of the contestants is already fired up."

"Quite literally, if I may add."

"Hmmm, not bad, tomboy." The white-haired man complimented with his mocking tone still intact, unfazed by the young woman's outburst. He lowered his visage, a grin on his face, and extended his arms to the sides, making the devices at his waist's sides activate in one swift motion. These ones glowed for a moment and then separated into six devices more, black in color and floating as if powered by something other than the electricity that seemed to appear whenever they were close. "I wonder if you'll be able to give me some fun."

"O-okay! Griffin Feathers' contestant is also ready for action!"

"A good time as any to start the match, I'd say."

"Then let us begin the first match of the fourth day! Fairy Tail's Eris Dragneel against Griffin Feathers' V!"

"Hey, tomboy?" V called with some amusement as he heard the countdown beginning. "I might tell you my real name if you win against me, whatcha say?"

A loud, guttural growl was his answer and a pair of fierce red eyes glaring at him from in between the fire.

His grin widened to insane proportions. "Oh-ho~! Feisty~."

"I'm suddenly disliking this man." Erza commented lowly to her son, giving off a dangerous aura that made the guards step back for safety precautions.

"I guess you don't like it when the girls get some friendly compliments, huh?" Lotus stated with a roll of his eyes, suddenly feeling cold when his mother's glare landed on him. He sweated bullets of fear at the ominous pressure that fell on his shoulders and tried to appease the woman quickly. "R-right, quiet if I've nothing good to say… I remember."

"3…! 2…! 1…!"

"START!"

With the referee disappearing from the arena in the blink of an eye, both fighters stood firmly on their grounds and seized each other, paying close attention to any sort of movement. For a minute, all that could be head was the flickering of Eris' flames around her and the sparks that flew about whenever V's devices floated closer to one another, until…

They were both gone, reappearing after a great clash at the very center of the arena with the scarlet-haired woman holding her sword firmly against the white-hair's devices, having swung the sword down with all the intention to slash the man in half. She frowned at his grinning face.

Gray's eyes widened slightly, finally understanding how the strange trinkets of the wizard worked. "So it is a catalyst?"

"It looks that way, yes…" Mira agreed next to him, taking a piece of paper and a pencil from her dress –who knows how she kept it there?-. She started to draw how the devices where working from her perspective, forming them up in a hexagon formation with multiple lines of electricity keeping them together, aside of creating a make-shift shield of sorts. "It's similar to how Azuka's weapons work only that these don't look capable of shooting the electricity running between them."

Returning to a calmer expression, the Ice Devil Slayer couldn't help but still sense that there was more to those things than what it could be initially discernable from them. "I bet he can do more than just block or use them for punching…"

The white-haired woman nodded in agreement, returning her full-attention to the fight. "Most likely."

"Let's focus on the fight for now." Laxus told the two, also interested in seeing what it could happen next.

"Is this why you're so confident, lame name?" Eris asked tauntingly, trying to win in their first clash by adding more strength and fire to the sword's edge. "I wonder how much those things will last!"

"Heh! They'll last enough time to allow me a finishing move!" V countered swiftly his grin widening when he saw the perplexed glance sent to him by the scarlet-haired woman. He snickered quietly and moved his hand, along with her sword, to make her pass next to him, taking the chance to do something outrageous when the younger twin lost her footing. "GOTCHA!"

Laxus, Gray and most of the male population had their jaw against the floor.

While the female side in the coliseum either blushed or glared at the young man.

"W-what… w-what an interesting turn of events…"

"I-If it could be called like that…."

"I-Indeed…"

Even the announcers were speechless.

But nevermind them, the family of said girl had a completely different reaction.

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT BRAT!" Natsu yelled furiously, standing up from his seat with fire consuming his body, also making the people around him –Lucy included- to edge away from him.

"C-calm down, Natsu!"

"HE'S DEAD, NO MERCY." Erza had a hundred weapons summoned in the blink of an eye and pointed to the arena.

"E-Erza-sama!"

"C-come back to your senses!"

"O-Oi! Mom! Calm down!" Lotus was mad as well, but the safety of the public came first in his mind.

"…MY SISTER WAS DEFILED!" And Elis was on her hands and knees after…

After…

*Slap!*

"Heheheheh~!" V stood a couple of meters behind the motionless Eris, his back facing her while the grin on his face grew to impossible levels and his left hand was held high for everyone to see. "It felt as good as I imagined it to be."

The young woman, in turn, was quiet as a tomb, looking down at the ground with her arms and legs limp like a dead body. A shadow obscuring her eyes, no one heard a single word from her. It made the whole place grow nervous, especially her friends, who knew her better than anyone and were still capable of thinking rationally, unlike her family that was now united under one banner to kill the transgressor.

"W-well, that was unexpected…" Azuka whispered shyly, scratching her blushing cheek with one finger as she waited for her long-time friend to react. "W-who would've thought he'd slap her… ass?"

"Hey, tomboy! Whatcha waiting for?" The cocky white-haired youngster called for his opponent after enjoying the feel in his hand a little more, turning around with his devices still floating at the ready around him. He tilted his head to the side and let his grin change to a more normal smile. "You cannot be that shocked after a simple butt-slap, can you?"

More silence, except for the roaring of one father in the stands.

"Oh?" Though the young man in the arena managed to hear something in that silence, giving a few steps forward to pay more attention. He put one hand next to his ear to concentrate a bit more and asked again. "You said somethin', tomboy?"

This time, he did get an answer.

"I said…" Eris whispered lowly, turning around to face him with her eyes still shadowed by the bangs of her hair. She clutched the handle of her blade tightly and raised it to point it at the man's throat, surprising him slightly before he broke into a wild grin again. The moment she faced him again, she looked livid, aside a bit flustered over what happened. "I SAID YOU'RE DEAD, YOU FUCKIN' PERVERT!"

"HAHAHAHA! That's what I wanted to hear, tomboy!" V yelled in excitement as he moved quickly to avoid a dangerous slash to his neck, which instead graced a few strands of his hair. Not long after that, they were both seen running in circles around the arena, with the young girl trying to behead the shameless slapper while the latter only laughed loudly at her attempts. "C'MON! STOP TRYING TO HIT ME AND HIT ME!"

*Boom!*

"STAY STILL AND ACCEPT YOUR FATE, PERVERT!"

*Slash!*

"HELL NO! THIS IS WAY TOO FUNNY!"

*Boom! Slash!*

"SHUT UP!"

*Boom!*

"HAHAHA~!"

The crowd could only look on in silence at the show, not really knowing how to react to this.

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Magnolia City I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I Fairy Tail Guild Hall I.-.-.I_

Aside from a very amused Gajeel, who was laughing on the floor in the middle of the guild with no one daring to stop him before he died out of a lack of oxygen, the only other person in the room that was actually still responsive and not staring at the lacrima-screen showing the Grand Magic Games in Crocus was the youngest of the Dragneel family.

"…I guess that's payback for all the times Eris-nee mocked the guys she fought." Little Erza whispered in between the quiet members, sighing tiredly at the whole deal. Even Happy was speechless and staring at the screen as if he had seen a ghost.

Perhaps it was true and her sister deserved that slap, who knows?

For now, there was only one thing to do in the little girl's mind.

"Gajeel-san, stop laughing or you'll pass out…"

Quite the memorable day.

**It will continue.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And so the story continues in the form of another three-shot. Yep, you read it alright, another three-shot. Why? Because I find it easier to update like this, less stress and with easier chapter making... since each set of three-shots will have a single objective and all the questions appearing in them will be answered in the third and final chapter of each run. *nods* Look at how smart I am~. *says that sarcastically***

**Okay, you must be wondering what's going on and why I am writing about something that happened a year before the whole thing of Erza needing help and the family getting together to assist her, right? (Btw, there was some Erza screen-time this time around! Yay~!) Okay, here's my explanation. It's a way to prepare the ground for that situation in which they meet the mother of the family again and set off to complete the mission. That way, I won't have to write a full-story or explain everything in chapters of 8.000-9.000 words each. *nods* Now, and without sarcasm! Look at how smart I am! Muahahaha! *coughs* Okay, enough of that... let's see... this was a funny chapter, wasn't it? *chuckles* I bet no one saw that coming at the end.**

**Thank you for reading and supporting these stories (and me as well), until the next chapter is up, I wish you good days.**

**Saludos.**


	5. Reminisce: Lotus

**Disclaimer: Once more, I don't own this manga or anything, Hiro Mashima does, and look how good he's taking it. Just kidding~.**

_A/N: We go on with the new format and the continuation of this second set of three-shots. *coughs* Pretty cool, huh? Well, let's cut the chase and go to the point; I got a few complaints, okay, no complaints per see but still shout-outs about something that is seriously wrong with my stories lately… even though it was pointed to this one in particular. *nods* First off, thanks Aravind for pointing out this flaw. Second, I'll start the chapter by making up in that regard. (I suggest y'all read his review if you wanna know what's going on.) Third, the story continues by following the past of another of the couple's children, guess which one. *chuckles*_

_Oh, another thing, I'll be having a surprise for y'all in a few days. I'll be ending one of the stories I've got in my profile. Yes, you heard right, and it's up to you to figure out which one! Heheheh~! Here's a hint: It is one of my first stories._

_Now, onto the story._

* * *

><p><strong>Family:<strong>

**Reminisce**

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Magnolia Town I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I South Gate Park I.-.-.I_

_(22 years prior to the actual story)_

A soft breeze rose all of the sudden in the quiet park, taking with it the leftover grass of the morning's mowing.

It rocked the branches of the great tree in the middle of the place and made some of its leaves fly away as well.

Two people stood quietly under the shade, one with an expression of shock while the other couldn't raise its head.

Astonishment and anxiety.

The young man standing there could not believe what he just heard.

The young woman with him could not bear the piercing gaze of his.

"…a-are you…? I-Is that true?"

His two questions and stuttering voice made her bit her lip in slight fear.

Was it perhaps too soon for this?

"I-I'm sure… I wouldn't… I wouldn't lie about it."

A sharp intake of air was heard from him.

She closed her eyes at the possible outburst from him.

And the next thing the young woman heard was the sound of a solid object falling to the ground.

Upon raising her gaze, her eyes widened at seeing the young man passed out over the grass.

"N-Natsu!?"

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Capital city of Crocus I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I Mercurius Palace I.-.-.I_

_(1 year prior to the actual story)_

After an entertaining week of events in the Domus Flau, the Grand Magic Games were over. Brought to an end after the battle royal of the last day and with an astounding victory from the wizards of Lamia Scale, that not only managed to best the powerful Sabertooth but also hold back the wizards from the mighty Fairy Tail.

A great battle of epic proportions that left the public cheering to the last of their breaths and city barely standing.

Many reparations would have to take place overnight, a massive reconstruction of many sections of the city due to the young wizards and their destructive magic.

Off with that, we are now inside the great palace of the King of Fiore. Or should I say Queen?

"For all of the wizards gathered here today in this great hall," Queen Hisui E. Fiore started after a short moment of entering the premises, giving time for the youngsters and other wizards to calm themselves into quietness. She held a smile on her face while talking to those that fought the last week in the city, together with her faithful guard Arcadios standing behind her. "I congratulate you all for a fine display of skill and magic prowess, determination and courage."

A loud cheer followed and the veteran guardsman behind her was quick to silence them all with a single hand raised.

"As a way to celebrate the good end of our yearly event, I invite you all to enjoy yourselves with us tonight." Soon after her words were spoken, an army of butlers, waitress and other servants swarmed the hall, serving the wizards inside with all kinds of delicacies. Her smile brightened at the sight of the cheerfulness below and she bowed. "Please, do have fun, rest the fatigue of the past week in this beautiful night."

Another roar of cheers and the youngsters were left to their devices.

"Gotta admit it doesn't look different from back then." Natsu murmured after eyeing the celebrating youngsters from all the guilds, catching sight of a few known faces in the process and waving back to their greetings from afar. He grinned at the sight of the wizards of Sabertooth going through the food and drinks with little enthusiasm, probably due to the loss of the last day. "Heh, Sting doesn't look as cheerful as he always is…"

Said man was sighing every now and then in the table reserved for him and the rest of the old generation of Sabertooth, everyone pretty much bummed because of the last result. Not even Lector or Frosch felt like trying to cheer them up.

"You do realize our own side is pretty much the same, right?" Erza scolded the Dragon Slayer, pointing to themselves and then to the wizards of Fairy Tail around the hall, noting the halfhearted faces of most of them. "The only people actually having fun tonight are the ones from Lamia."

"Bleh, it sucks that they won, honestly." The Dragon Slayer sighed and shook his head, looking back up with a smile on his face. He could see an older Lyon and even older Jura celebrating with the younger wizards from their guild. "But I guess it's not that bad…"

The scarlet-haired Knight nodded and smiled with her eyes close, agreeing on that part. "Aye, it is not."

"Natsu-dono, Erza-dono," a voice called their names and their heads turned in sync to the right, watching with some surprise how Arcadios of the Cherry Blossom Holy Knights approached them with two of his officers on toe. One of them familiar to the pair of wizards. The old knight nodded in greeting once in front of them and gave a nostalgic smile. "I see you decided to attend tonight's event."

"Well duh, I couldn't leave Eris alone after what happened the other day." Natsu growled out unconsciously, looking in between the many wizards for one of white hair and purple clothes. "I swear I'll butcher that V if he tries anything again."

Erza shook her head in mild amusement and Arcadios just laughed it off. "It is good to see you still keep your lively attitude, Natsu-dono."

"It would've been good if some of it had lessened with the years." The woman in the group pointed out, earning another laugh from the old knight and a soft chuckle from her son, who was behind the taller man.

All of this while Natsu grumbled a few curses and shot her an annoyed glance.

"Dad's always had a short fuse." Lotus commented idly to get into the conversation, planning on mocking his father's personality a little if not for a sharp pain that jolted from his waist to the rest of his body. He stumbled a couple of steps to the right and glared at the person next to him. "Ow! Hey! What's that for!?"

"You know why, Lotus." The other guard standing with them, a young woman of light brown hair, long to the waist, ashen eyes and red military uniform glared back at him in answer. She held a muzzle-loader rifle in her hands, one she used to hit the young man's side in order to quiet him down. "You weren't just disrespecting your father but Arcadios-sama as well."

"Huh? And how did I do that?" The older Dragneel child questioned in mild anger, turning his full attention to the woman and ignoring the soft laughs of the older people close to them. "I'm pretty sure my comment was not disrespectful in any way."

She shook her head in disbelief, rolling her eyes when he started to glare at her. "Saying your father has a short fuse is a clear disrespectful statement, Lotus, even if it's true."

"O-oi…" Natsu murmured a bit hurt, whereas Arcadios and Erza laughed about it.

The young woman continued. "And you interrupted a conversation to which you weren't invited."

"Why don't we go outside and see who's right, huh?" The young man proposed, calling forth one of his swords and smirking in challenge to the uninterested girl. "Or what? Are you too scared to even take on my challenge?"

Shaking her head again, the young woman walk past him, bumping against his shoulder on purpose, and led the way outside. "Follow me, I'll show you how weak your words are."

"Y-you…!" Lotus glared even stronger at the retreating back of the brown-haired girl and followed her quickly, ignoring the laughing adults they left behind.

"The youth of today is always refreshing." Arcadios commented with amusement once the pair of youngsters left, noticing the nostalgic air between the parents of his young Captain. He was his superior in a way and was used to seeing this kind of thing between the two youngsters, but he guessed that it was the first for the parents. "I'm sure the young Captain never spoke of her, if you'd like, I could talk a little about their relationship."

'_Meddle in the life of that brat? Nah…'_ Quieting down his laughter, Natsu shook his head and gave the old knight a reassuring smile. "No, it's-."

"Please, do tell everything you know." Erza interrupted him though, quickly as lightning, interest and curiosity brimming from every pore of her being as she took a sweatdropping Arcadios to a free table so she could hear all the details of her son's relationship to that young woman. "Do worry about the details and be sure to not miss anything."

"A-aye, Erza-dono…"

'…_ah, I forgot she's overprotective of him.'_ The Dragon Slayer watched the two leave and then, he was alone, laughing nervously over his wife's nosy behavior. _'Damn, Arcadios will need a drink… or a hundred after she's done with him.'_

Some things never change.

Though he would have expected this from Mira, not her.

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Magnolia Town I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I Fairy Tail's Infirmary I.-.-.I_

_(22 years prior to the actual story)_

After dragging his unconscious form through the streets of the town, thanking to whatever Gods in the sky for the day to be a dull one with no one walking around the town, Erza sat next to the sleeping Natsu and kept her hands on her knees while Makarov and Mira inspected the young man's condition.

She knew it and this was the proof she needed; Natsu was not ready for what lay in story for them.

"Hmmm, the brat is out for the count." Makarov spoke after checking up the boy's state, shaking his head in mild amusement at the almost unnoticeable look of horror on the face of the Dragon Slayer. "Whatever happened to him, it knocked him out cold."

"Aye aye, Natsu looks like he had seen a ghost." Mira added with a cheerful smile, noticing her former rival's flinching body. Her smile turned into a devious grin. "I bet he heard something terrifying."

The old man looked up in question at the statement. "Terrifying?"

Lucky for her, Erza was behind the Master. This gave her a wide berth to pale, flinch and tremble even more at the conversation that her rival started to grit her nerves. _'You're the true Devil, Mira!'_

"Oh yes, something like… hmmm, I don't know." Mira tapped her chin with a lonely finger and looked up in wonder, further grating the scarlet-haired woman's nerves with all her acting. She gave an exclamation of happiness and joined her hands together, tilting her head to the side for added cuteness. "What if Natsu heard he has a son?"

Erza's jaw fell to the ground.

Makarov's case was the same. "A-A son…? This strong-headed moron?"

Mira shrugged and kept her smile in place. "Who knows? Maybe he was deceived into doing _that_ and he now has a son?"

At the mere idea of her, from all people, seducing Natsu just to lay a son on his hands made something in Erza snap. "_What?_"

"Natsu is a strong-headed guy, maybe an idiot… but he's kind and wouldn't refuse if a girl ever tries that with him." Mira went on and on with her reasoning, not missing the increasing killer instinct suddenly falling upon her or the look of worry from the Master who finally caught up to what was going on. "He probably is between the… how's it said? The sword and the wall?"

To make part of the statement true, a sword came flying in Mira's direction.

It passed close to her right cheek and embedded itself on the wall behind.

She still kept her smile. "Hmm? Is there something you want to say, Erza~?"

The sing-song tone she used made the woman even more furious.

"I'm about to carve a hole in your chest, Mira."

At such words, the old man in the room excused himself and stood by the sidelines.

Was it perhaps that Mira noticed what he noticed and was having a jealousy fit?

Or was it just to push the proud Knight to confess on her own?

Whatever the case, he didn't want to be in the middle.

'_A-ah… young women… always full of energy.'_

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Capital city of Crocus I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I Mercurius Palace's Garden I.-.-.I_

_(1 year prior to the actual story)_

'_Ah… young people… always complicating the simplest of things…'_ Natsu sighed blissfully as he leaned against the railing of the balcony that gave view to the ample garden of the Royal Palace. He used a hand to support his head and the other to scratch the surface of the rocky structure, waiting for the fight between his son and his friend to start. He eyed the two of them and snickered at the confident smiles they had before the start of the match, suddenly remembering himself doing something alike in the past with a certain someone. _'Though, this is a bit better than yelling "I challenge you!" to the four winds…'_

"Are you ready? Last chance to bail out, Lieutenant!" Lotus called from his side of the field, holding his sword at the ready, smirking confidently at the impassive woman opposite to him.

"Those are my words, Lotus, you should retreat now with your pride intact." The brown-haired shooter replied calmly, sighing when he laughed her words off and made his stance even more firm. She raised her weapon and aimed it at him. "If you continue with this, I expect you to be ready for the consequences."

"Oh-ho~! And you better be ready as well!" The crimson-haired man looked at her firmly and his smirk widened. He had a good idea on how to beat her, especially after recalling what happened not three days ago.

'_Wait… really?'_ Natsu quirked an eyebrow in disbelief, catching onto what his son had in mind. _'Okay… I know our family is full of idiots… each in their own way and right… but still… that'll be pretty low of you, Lotus.'_

"Ah! There you are, Natsu-san!" A voice rung from behind and head of the Dragon Slayer turned to look over his shoulder, approaching him was the form of Sting Eucliffe carrying a couple of glasses and bottle with him. He was slightly surprised to see the man there and not inside mopping with the rest of the guild. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

The White Dragon Slayer hadn't change a lot in the last decades, only gaining a few sharper features and a change in wardrobe. In the pink-hair's mind, he looked the same but more mature. Probably the same case as him. Who knew? Maybe the saying _'a dragon grows wiser with each year he lives'_ was true and they were both finally calming down from their rambunctious days.

"Shhh, can't you keep it down a little." The Fairy Tail wizard chided, showing an irritated look and pointing a finger to the couple fighting it off in the garden. "My boy is fighting his girlfriend down there and I wanna see how it goes."

"His girlfriend, you say?" Sting walked to be next to his childhood idol and looked at the two wizards/guardsmen of the Royal Palace with curious eyes, whistling in amazement at the skill of both youngsters. He opened the bottle he brought with him and served two glasses, giving one to the other man. "Hmmm, not bad… the girl has some nice looks."

"Yes, she does…" _'I'd never dare to say that in front of Erza, though.'_ The pink-haired thought nervously, remembering how insecure the scarlet-haired woman could be.

The blond wizard continued to eye the fight and titled his head in wonder, noticing something amiss. "Looks like they're even, don't they?"

Natsu shook his head and smiled in amusement. "Nah, the boy is holding back…"

"Holding back? What? Does he want to impress her or something?" The blond asked with an amused smile of his own.

"Probably, though I bet it'll go wrong for him in the end." The pink-haired man chuckled lightly.

"I bet you tried to do the same with Erza-san." Sting joked, but his amused expression turned into a nervous grimace when Natsu flinched. "Uh… okay, you did… and how did it end?"

The stronger Dragon Slayer gulped down the saliva in his mouth and took a mouthful of the wine in his glass. "Not very well…"

The Master of Sabertooth shivered at the short mental image and patted his fellow's back in empathy. "U-uh, sorry for asking."

Natsu shook his head and slumped down, leaving his chin against the railing. "I-It's alright… don't worry…"

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Magnolia Town I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I Fairy Tail's Infirmary I.-.-.I_

_(22 years prior to the actual story)_

The constant noises, both of collisions against hard surfaces or whistles cutting through the air made the young man in the room groan, both from a strange pain in his head and from all the ruckus that was receiving him together with it. He seriously wanted some sleep after the strange dream he had, rest some more after changing his position in the bed so that the headache would go away at waking up completely.

"Just admit it, Erza!"

"I won't admit a thing to you, Mira!"

'_Erza…? Mira…?'_ Shifting under the covers of his bed… which was not supposed to have sheets considering he usually slept on a hammock, Natsu tried to open his eyes slowly, so as to grow used to the light of the day and then opened in one full motion. He had to, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to dodge the sword that came flying close to his head. Now fully awake, he eyed the battlefield inside of what it was supposed to be the infirmary of the guild and yelled to the top of his lungs. "What the hell is going on!?"

Both women stopped short at the yell, mere inches away from producing more harm to the other and looked at the young boy with wide, surprised eyes. "Natsu!"

"Finally awake, my boy?" Makarov asked nervously from one corner of the room, waving a feeble hand to the Dragon Slayer.

"Uh? Yeah, I am! Thanks, gramps!" Natsu took his time to address the old man and then returned to his frightened expression, pointing a finger at all the swords in the room, the holes in the walls, and the two women holding each other by the neck. "What are you two doing!?"

"Oh, nothing~." Mira went back to her human form and smiled sweetly to the young man, waving her hand and the issue as if nothing had truly never happened. "We were having a women's heart-to-heart."

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the answer. "Really now?"

"Why yes, I was just talking with Erza about why you passed out." The white-haired beauty said in all honesty, making the woman next to her glare at her fiercely.

"I passed out?" The pink-haired though, he had a different reaction. The mere reminder of him passing out also brought back some flashes of that strange dream he had before waking up in that room. "D-does it have anything to do with-?"

"It has nothing to do with that!" Erza yelled loud enough to leave his voice as a mere whisper, aside interrupting him as well. She gasped for breath and lowered her head to hide her frustration. "We can talk about it later, Natsu."

"Hmmm, talk about what?" Makarov asked in curiosity, earning a yelp from the scarlet-haired knight that forgot she wasn't alone in the room.

"Yeah… now I'm curious too." Natsu confessed honestly, scratching his head at all the confusion this situation brought to him.

"C'mon, Erza… why don't you tell?" Mira teased again, this time a bit light-hearted. She smiled sweetly to the knight when this one was going to glare at her again and motioned for her to come clean. "We're among friends… family… you can talk to us, right?"

'_Okay… now I'm really curious.'_ Both males in the room thought together, feeling like they were the only people that didn't know about this mysterious issue that bothered the S-class knight.

'_S-she got me there… damn her…' _Erza lowered her head and grumbled a few incoherent words. She looked through the corners of her vision to the old Master, who was like a father to her, and then the pink-haired man, who was the cause of her current situation, and grumbled even more. _'I-I didn't want to give the news like this… I wanted him to know first, before anyone else…'_

"Erza?" A voice called for her, a voice she knew well. She raised her head slightly and her brown eyes met a similar set of onyx color. "Is something wrong? You can tell me."

'_D-don't use those sad-puppy eyes with me, you fool!'_ The woman grumbled a few curses more under her breath and then sighed, long and loudly. The room grew quiet and they all fixed their eyes on her, noticing she moved her lips and said something… but they could not hear it. "…"

Natsu quirked an eyebrow at what he almost heard, crawling over the bed to be closer to the woman at the same time he used a hand to amplify his ear's reach. "Uh? Sorry, I didn't hear you…"

The woman's head lowered even more and the same thing happened. "…"

The pink-haired youngster frowned at this, now looking at the woman with his arms crossed and an annoyed expression. "Come on, Erza! Spit it out!"

Erza growled an insult more and then raised her head to the Heavens.

"I SAID I'M PREGNANT, YOU IDIOT!"

Silence.

Lots of silence.

You could hear a pin falling to the floor with all the silence.

Oh, look, I said silence three – no, four times now!

But back to the story.

Makarov fell on his butt with his jaw hitting the wooden floor, a look of pure shock in his face.

Mira squealed and jumped around the room with a mad giggling barely contained by her hands.

And Natsu staggered on the bed to fall as well, face-first against the floor.

He stood up quickly though, and ran to hold the panting woman's shoulders.

There was a strange glint in his eyes when he asked her… "For real!?"

The flustered Titania nodded sheepishly, fully abashed now that the news that were supposed to be for her lover alone were yelled and revealed to a few added people. "Y-yes…"

The other two occupants in the room now turned to the Dragon Slayer to his reaction, noticing with some nervousness that he was shaking all over and staring at the woman's eyes in disbelief. Maybe this was not what he wanted? If so, the single thought made Mira's heart be close to shatter. All of her teasing and pushing her friend's buttons to confess only to receive a negative?

She was such a –

"ALRIGHT! YES!" Natsu cheered in excitement, surprising the woman now captured in an impregnable hug. He jumped around with her in his arms and cheered some more. "It was not a dream! I'm really going to be a dad! It wasn't a goddamned dream! YEAH!"

Shock filled the room again, but this one was of a different, warmer kind.

'_N-Natsu…' _Erza wanted to cry at the unexpected reaction. After seeing him passing out a few hours earlier, she thought that what she was waiting to come in nine months was not something the pink-haired man wanted as much as her. Maybe she overthought the whole issue, maybe her natural pessimism won over and made her think of the worst possible outcome instead of remembering that this was the same cheerful young man that always was there for her. She returned his hug and buried her face in his shoulder, happy beyond limits as she sobbed a few times_. 'You better never change, you damn lovable fool…'_

"U-uh… sorry to cut your happy moment but…" Makarov stood back on his feet and coughed a few times to call the attention of the merry couple. The merry couple of which he had no idea of until today. "S-since when have you two… well, how long has it been?"

"Oh Master! Don't tell me you didn't notice!" Mira asked aloud, still in cloud nine at the prospect of finally seeing her friends getting together and moving on towards a bright future. "They've been together for years now!"

"W-what!?" The old man almost fell again. If that were true, since when? He really wanted to know. "A-are you serious!?"

"I-I could… I could try and tell you about it, Master." Erza offered sincerely, wiping the tears from her eyes, but, looking at the loving gaze of the man holding her, she knew they had other plans for the day. "B-but… I'm sure you understand Natsu and I need some time on our own, don't you?"

"Yeah, gramps! We can talk about all of this later!" Natsu himself was still pretty much uncaring to everything and happy about anything. Someone could barge inside the infirmary and tell him that Gray was made an S-class wizard before him and he would not care at all. He took hold of the woman in his arms and carried past the old man, not even waiting for a reply. "Please tell everyone not to bother us!"

"Aye aye! Go have fun!" Mira assured them with her smile receding a little, a small wave of her hand to the two lovebirds that had something to celebrate now. "And congratulations, too!"

It wasn't long before the two wizards could no longer heard the loud cheers of the Dragon Slayer, signaling his departure from the nearby area.

"…alright, I need a drink." Makarov spoke after a long moment, walking out of the room towards his office with a dark cloud floating over his head. Of course, it wasn't that he was sad about the beautiful development between his children, but… _'A boy… or a girl… from those two? I can bid farewell to my funds now.'_

Mira accompanied the old man until he was inside his office, chuckling lightly at his more than obvious thoughts about all of this.

Should she be evil and make him wonder about what it could happen if they happened to have another child afterwards?

'_Hmmm… no, Master has enough on his plate already.'_

More giggling was heard and she returned to her workstation.

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Capital city of Crocus I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I Mercurius Palace's Garden I.-.-.I_

_(1 year prior to the actual story)_

"Hmmm, the fight is drawing to a close…" Natsu murmured quietly to this fellow spectator, keeping his eyes on the pair fighting in the garden but catching the nod from Sting from his peripheral vision. "And it looks like the winner is who we thought."

"Okay, that means the funny part starts now, right?" The blond Dragon Slayer chuckled and covered his mouth with one hand. If what Natsu and him spoke in the last few minutes was true, then the young Dragneel boy was about to meet a world of pain for playing the smartass. "I feel some pity for him, no offense."

The pink-haired parent shook his head and chuckled a bit on his own. "None taken."

As for the battle in the gardens of the Queen of Fiore, the sight of the field turned into a mixture of both brown, black and small patches green did nothing to deter the two combatants and their objective. Fallen trees, craters of all sizes, gashes cutting the ground; they stopped at nothing, not even when noticing they were making a mess of the royal garden.

"C'mon already! Face me!" Lotus would always take the job of charging ahead and meeting his fellow officer head-on while the other dodged him and fired rounds upon rounds of magic bullets. He ducked when another dangerous barrage was released towards his head and took a sharp turn to the left, running in circles around her as she continued to fire more bullets. "I'm getting bored, Lieutenant Zara!"

"Stop running then, and allow my bullets to hit you." Zara replied coolly, keeping up her shooting with ease despite the increasing movement speed of her target. She knew well-enough that he was superior. Not only in rank but in power as well. It would be a fool's errand to try and beat him with such a fact in mind. But she was not one to back away after talking so strongly. Especially to this man. "I will make sure to avoid any vital points."

"Hah!" The young man snorted in mock amusement and changed directions again, this time going for the right flank. His actions earned him a short respite but before long, her bullets were whistling close to his body again. He would've been hit already if it weren't because of his swordsmanship, making use of his nimbleness with sharp weapons to deflect the projectiles that were closer to hit him. "I'll have my victory soon! Be ready!"

Another sharp turn and he disappeared from her field of vision, though she saw this tactic of his before. She turned around and aimed her gun down, stopping the young Captain on his tracks when he was about to slash at her back.

Both fighters remained still.

"And… there… I almost thought he won." Sting mussed aloud after seeing the last from the fight.

"You're wrong… keep looking." Natsu told his fellow with an amused grin, prompting Eucliffe to do as told.

Lotus gritted his teeth together in repressed anger and Zara narrowed her eyes at him.

She was about to press the trigger and shoot a minor blast on the man's face.

But Lotus discarded his swords and lunged, pushing aside her weapon to tackle her to the ground.

To say she was surprised would be an understatement.

Her superior officer tackled her to the ground, pinning her against the soft grass.

The soft grass of Her Majesty's garden, no less.

Without missing a single heart-beat or doubting his actions.

"C-Captain…!?" Zara squeaked in bewilderment, at a loss for words in this situation.

The distance or the position between the two was not really awkward in her opinion.

But the suddenness of it all and the strange feeling she could read in his dark-red eyes were sending shivers down her spine.

"Now…" Lotus growled lowly, inches away from her face. "I'll have my victory."

Ceasing all kinds of resistance, the Lieutenant closed her ashen eyes and waited. "C-Captain…"

The distance between the two grew thinner and thinner, painfully but steadily.

The two Dragon Slayers in the distance joined their hands together in anticipation of what was about to come.

Holding their breaths for the long-awaited moment!

The distance was almost null now!

And then…!

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice suddenly spoke behind them and made them shriek like little girls, turning around with their hands gripping their chests. Both on the floor and against the railing as they saw the mighty Titania glowering at the two for catching them red-handed. "Spying on a young couple in their intimacy? You two are not so senile to be doing that just yet."

"L-look, honey… I can explain…!" Natsu tried nervously.

"Enough!" Erza pointed a sword to his throat, shutting him up for good. She eyed to the right and summoned another blade, aiming it at the blond Master of Sabertooth who tried to escape while she focused on her husband. "And you as well! Both will face punishment for what you were doing!"

A loud crash was heard.

"Natsu-saaaaaaan~!"

"Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing~!"

Followed by another crash.

"Shut up, you two!"

And then another more, stronger than the previous two.

The night was beautiful for the couple in the middle of the devastated garden.

Nothing to complain if they had to say it.

Aside the man-crying and whimpers they heard at some point.

* * *

><p><em>I.-.-.I Magnolia Town I.-.-.I<em>

_I.-.-.I Erza's room at Fairy Hills I.-.-.I_

_(22 years prior to the actual story)_

A companionable silence engulfed the room and its two occupants.

Both lost in a world of their own.

Undisturbed by anything that could be or might be happening outside their little bubble of happiness.

"How should we call him… or her?"

"Hmmm, what about Erza?"

"M-my name…? A-are you sure…?"

He laid a hand on her stomach, which in a few months to come would be a belly.

He couldn't wait for all those days and months to pass.

"Yeah… I'm sure."

She looked down with a small smile and then looked up again.

She had another question.

"And if it's a boy? Is Natsu okay?"

He laughed at her question.

Which earned him a soft punch to his shoulder.

"N-no… why not another?"

"Like…?"

He looked up in thought.

And snapped his fingers when something occurred to him.

"Why not Lotus?"

She quirked an eyebrow.

"Lotus…? As in… Crimson Lotus? Your magic's spell?"

He nodded sharply.

"Yeah… I mean, Crimson Lotus' flames always remind me of your hair, y'know?"

She blushed slightly.

"So? Whatcha say? Is Lotus alright?"

She nodded quickly without missing a heart-beat.

Laying a hand of her own to rest on top of his over her stomach.

"Yes… Lotus will be a good name."

He grinned and leaned his head against hers.

Both enjoying the silence of the room.

In their own little world as they waited for what the future would bring.

**It will continue.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, I'm not going to lie… that ending I wrote almost brought a tear to my eyes. *sniffs* Seriously, I think I'll try to write a couple more of situations like that in the future… oh, the future. *sniffs again* So full of… uncertainty! Yes. No one knows what is to come but we all wait for it in one way or another. *nods***

**Now, back to business, friends. *coughs* I told you all I'll be delivering the end of one of my stories in the following day, did I not? Yes, I did. Okay, I'm pretty sure that the clue I gave you all was not enough to help you into guessing which one so… what do you say? Want another hint? Here it is! Hint: It is a story set in an Alternative Universe. *grins* Good luck finding out which one is it!**

**And I really hope you've all enjoyed this chapter! I wrote it remembering that Lotus was –in this fic- the first child of this pairing. Meaning that his own chapter was going to be a little bit bound to the past and his parents' story decades ago. *nods* All good and well. Now, I'll try to bring the next one as soon as I can, no promises, since… you know, I'm having Finals around these days and my time is quite limited during the week. But expect chapter and other things from me during the weekends! Yay!**

**Saludos.**


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